Desperate Measure
by TheBigBadWolf1
Summary: AU. Before Lee dies in the jewelry store, Ben promises him that he will take care of Clementine after his demise. Now it's just him and her against the world. He swore to protect her from all the dangers of the zombie apocalypse, but he's not sure if he can.
1. A Fresh Start Part 1

The Walking Dead: Desperate Measure

A Fresh Start Part 1

**A/N: Here is the first chapter of this fanfic, which I hope it'll be a long and good one. Just wanted to say that, in case you haven't noticed, Ben survives the fall of Savannah. And I didn't mention it in the summary, but Chuck survives too. We will see in a future chapter how he escaped the sewers and managed to live. I first intended to have this fanfic start at the point where Ben nearly fell off the balcony, but I thought it'd be too boring for you guys to see what happened from that point to the end of No Time Left, which is basically what happened in canon. Anyways, with no further ado, enjoy the chapter! I know I cry every time I think about No Time Left ending… **

It just had…all happened to fast. Escalated so quickly. First they knew, they had a simple task: get Clementine back from her kidnapper, anonymously known as the Stranger. They had to jump from a balcony onto the next building to continue their journey. Everything went well, and Ben had a close call when the balcony broke and if he hadn't reacted so fast he could've been dead by now.

But then everything went downhill. First they had lost Kenny who had sacrificed himself for Christa, and he was lost to a herd of walkers. Then the group came across a large gap between them and the Marsh House, which could only be crossed through a sign that seemed that was about to give in at any time. Ben went first, he volunteered to actually, something he came to regret later, but he managed well enough. Then Lee followed. That was when the sign collapsed, and he was holding onto dear life by a thread. They were split from Christa and Omid.

Lee quickly engineered a plan. He told the couple to meet them at the train, to which they'd go back with Clementine. Although the way Lee was, everybody including him probably knew that he wasn't returning.

Lee and Ben climbed down the building they were in, and Lee was like a killing machine! He started slaughtering mercilessly through an ocean of walkers using a cleaver. He was even bitten a couple times, but he just ignored the pain and continued to slay those undead beasts. Ben had followed him, and actually managed to bypass the herd without being killed due to Lee's protection.

They reached the Marsh House. Ben couldn't believe it. Lee told Ben to stay outside to serve as backup if anything went bad. Lee then bravely went inside to talk to the Stranger. He impatiently heard as the two talked. He noticed how the Stranger had asked him to put his things down and Lee lied, how the Stranger accused Lee of the St. John incident, how he accused Lee of letting Lilly out on the road…

But then he heard a fight erupting. He gained a pair and burst inside, and saw Stranger about to kill Lee. He raised his gun to fire and save Lee, but he…he couldn't bring himself to kill him. He hesitated. And then…a gunshot rang. Clementine was the one that had shot the Stranger and saved Lee in the process.

Lee made a brilliant discovery. In order to pass through a walked without it noticing them, they had to cover themselves in walker guts. Reluctantly, Lee cut open a lurker that had almost gotten a bite on him, and they smeared their bodies and clothes with that muck fluid.

They traversed the horde with no problems. Until Clementine saw her parents. However, they were dead. Undead, to be precise. They were walkers. It would've been fine in Lee hadn't pass out on the middle of the street.

Ben instantly panicked but Clementine had the idea of dragging him to a local jewelry store. Ben was surprised how a 9 year old could be more courageous and level-headed than he ever was, but he didn't have time to think about it.

Ben and Clem hauled Lee into that store, and luckily it had a metal gate which they closed to keep out the zombies. Lee woke up, but it was apparent that he wouldn't last any longer. His eyes were tinted yellow and his skin pale. He kept moving until he was paralyzed. Clem and Lee kept talking, while Ben shot a walker that was stuck in a file cabinet and found them a backdoor through which they could get out. Ben wasn't afraid to kill walkers, atleast if they were stuck and unable to attack him. Lee demanded for him to restraint him with a pair of handcuffs he'd found. Ben also had found a white-colored Glock 17 from that walker, that seemed to be a police officer before he turned.

And now was the time. Ben was leaning against the wall, shedding some tears. Lee had been such a gentle person to him. He had saved him and did his best to save Mr. Parker back at the motel, stood up for him in the RV and at Crawford, excused him for all the mistakes he made…he had a great debt to pay him. Clementine was kneeled in front of her guardian, who was fading away before her eyes.

"You're strong, Clem, you…you can do anything…" Lee weakly acknowledged, yet trying to sound proud in her. He was sitting against a beat up old radiator. He was covered in walker blood, his face adorned with tears.

"But…I'm little…" Clementine recognized. She was little in size and age, but mature in knowledge and morale. Everyone who took the time to meet her knew that.

"Don't mean nothin'. You're gonna see some bad stuff, but it's okay." Lee said. The world nowadays wasn't what he desired for his adoptive daughter, but he wanted her to live. To enjoy life in any mean she could.

"My parents…it's horrible…" She sobbed while staring at the floor.

"I…I can't imagine, sweet pea." Lee tried to comfort her.

"And now you? Please, don't be one of them…" She pleaded with all her heart and soul, even though it was all in vain.

That line simply broke Ben, who walked away from Lee and Clem and started weeping uncontrollably. He couldn't believe…everyone he cared about…now dead…or about to die.

"There's only one thing to be done. You know that." Lee told her in a firm tone. She had to know the truth and know that it's either dying or becoming a walker.

"I don't know if I can…" She sorrowfully admitted.

"You won't have to do it." Lee confessed, as his voice became weaker and feebler. "Find Omid and Christa." He instructed. "They're waitin' by the train. They'll take good care of you."

Clementine cried, her face with splatters of blood and tears drenching her face.

"And Clem…" Lee spoke his last words as his death neared. "Keep that hair short."

"I will. I'll cut it myself." She said, hoping to fulfill her mentor's will.

"And also," Lee added, but he was interrupted when his voice vanished and his eyelids started shutting down.

"What? What is it?" Clementine enquired, slightly preoccupied that Lee might have been dead.

"I'll…I'll miss you…"

"Me too."

"Ben…come here." Lee ordered. Ben slowly turned around and paced towards him.

"What…what is it?" Ben asked in the most tremble voice ever.

"You…you have to…protect Clem…take her with you…" Lee conveyed.

"What…? But I can't…"

"You're a strong person, Ben…" Lee inspired the youngster. Smiling at him. Ben seriously couldn't believe how this man could be so kind…he really didn't deserve becoming a walker. "I…I have faith in you…I know you can do this…promise me…you'll…" He drifted off.

"I…I…I…I promise Lee. I'll take care of her." Ben said to try and make Lee happy in his last moments. Although how could he, the same person that abandoned Clementine to the walkers just two days ago, protect her for the horrendous world out there?

Lee didn't say another word. His heart didn't beat a second time. His eyes lost their glim and life. His respiration stopped.

"Clementine…go and wait in the office…" Ben commanded her to. She was torn up and an ocean of salty tears streamed down her face. She obeyed and went into the office, she knew what Ben was about to do. She closed the door behind her.

Ben got up and picked the white Glock 17, who had a full clip inside. He knew he had to do this. It's what Lee would've wanted. And especially, Ben didn't want him to turn.

"I'm…I'm sorry Lee…for every time I screwed up…" Ben apologized, holding the gun in the direction of Lee's forehead. His arm became easily sore, he still couldn't control the weight of firearms.

The gun shook viciously on his hand. He laid his index finger on the trigger. His whole body was shaking. This was the moment…the moment in which he would kill a man. A walker perhaps, but someone he cared about.

He managed to find the strength and he pulled the trigger. Just after it rang, he could listen to Clementine sobbing loudly in the office. She knew what had happened.

Ben gradually twisted his head to see the result of his action. Lee had a hole in his head, blood was poured on the walls, along with some of his brains. Ben started wailing like he never had before. He had killed someone. And he wasn't sure he could be the same person ever again.

**A/N: Alright, small chapter to kick everything off! Hope you guys have liked, fave and review if you please, and have a good one!**


	2. A Fresh Start Part 2

The Walking Dead: Desperate Measure

A Fresh Start Part 2

**A/N: 'Sup guys? Just want to say some quick things. First of all, the first chapter got off to a great start, so thanks to you guys! And then, in the future, there will be OCs! I normally would use my own, but since I like to involve the readers, if you want, you can send me an OC via PM, and then I'll see where and when your character will appear.**

Ben stumbled inside the office, where he knew and perceived Clementine crying her eyes out. He swept his vision with the sleeve of his highschool jacket in order to wipe out the water blurring his sight. He was now alone, and he had to fend for Clementine.

"Hey…it's…it's…" Ben stuttered as he placed a hand on Clem's shoulder, but he was interrupted when she turned around and squeezed Ben in a hug. Ben was a tall fellow, so Clem could only hug his legs. Ben bent down and hugged her properly, hoping that it'd comfort her.

He felt as her body shook and her tears stained his coat. "Where…where'll we go now?" She whimpered as he gazed back at Ben whilst she sniffed.

"I…I dunno…" He admitted. He thought that the best they could do was meet up with Christa and Omid. Atleast then Ben wouldn't be alone, as he relied on safety in numbers. "We have to…catch up with Omid and Christa, okay?" He said as he gripped her shoulders in a reassuring gesture. Clementine slowly nodded at him. "Okay, fine…they should be meeting us at the train. Just…follow me…"

Ben got up and Clem looked up sadly at him. Ben just wished that he wouldn't get Clementine killed during their journey to the train.

_Jesus, I can't believe this shit's happening…What am I supposed to do now?_ He thought. Okay, first things first. They'd have to find a way out. The metal gate outside was shut tight, and even if they opened it, they'd be greeted by the belly of the beast, a herd of walkers. He turned his head and spotted a backdoor, which was next to the file cabinet where the corpse of a really dead walker was stuck. "C'mon." He said, and Clementine lagged right behind him.

He revolved the handle and opened it. The metallic _click _echoed through a tiny room that was wrapped in darkness. The light from the office illuminated the room a little bit, and from what Ben managed to see there was a staircase and a second door in front of him. The stairs probably led to the roof and the door probably was an emergency exit.

Ben remained silent to try to identify the moaning of zombies, but he heard none. The stairwell was clear…probably.

The roofs were cut off from the route that they took on the way to the Marsh House when the sign fell, so their only choice was the street level. "We're gonna have to go outside…ready?" Clementine again responded with a silent nod. Ben left the office door open so they could see a little bit of their surroundings.

Ben pressed the long handle of the emergency door and peeked outside. There he came across a handful of walkers, who were disperse but didn't seem to recognize them. Their disguise of walker blood and guts was still working. He started hyperventilating as he imagined himself travelling through those zombies and then being eaten alive as their disguise failed. _C'mon, Benjamin, grow a pair!_ He mentally reprehended himself.

He took a step outside, and grabbed Clem's hand so he wouldn't lose track of her. Ben felt slightly ashamed as Clementine didn't show a big sign of fear. The nearest zombie passed right by them, without it seeing him as a human. Fear installed itself in Ben, and he let out a small grunt. The walker stopped and looked back at him. Ben gulped. Did it acknowledge him? Had it not?

Unfortunately it did. The lurker espied right through their camouflage and lunged at them. Ben pulled out his pistol and aimed it at its head. But then he thought, wouldn't gunfire attract even more zombies towards them?

He once again hesitated, which caused the walker to grip his wrist. Now he was letting out low shouts, and the panic made it impossible for him to defend himself. And then the biggest of his fears came true, just as the zombie bit viciously his wrist.

He reacted due to his instincts and fired a bullet to its head. It immediately lost any life he had left of him and its expression was beyond than blank when it fell dead to the ground. He quickly looked around, and noticed that the lurkers, even though they had heard the gunshot, their camouflage was still working and they didn't perceive fresh meat, and as long as they remained calm, they could pull it off.

But now Ben saw Clementine staring with a horrified face at his wrist. Ben twitched his face as he looked towards his arm, he sighed and relief instantly flowed through his body: the walker didn't manage to bite through the tissue of his clothes.

"Oh thank God." He murmured. "Clem, if we're gonna make it, we have to be real quiet, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah…" She muttered, now being able to control her tears.

They started shuffling through the horde. They tried to stick as close to each other as they could, hoping that their combined disguise would work. Some of the walkers regarded them, but didn't approach. Others just kept roaming with no destination.

Ben tried to focus on his breathing. He remembered seeing on the Internet that the best way to become calm and concentrated was take various deep breaths. And even though his heart was racing, it actually was working.

Ben and Clem just kept on walking, trying to keep a good distance between them and any zombie they'd came across until he realized how much they had strolled ever since the jewelry store. He looked past his shoulder and saw that they were long past the horde. He examined his surroundings and observed that there were no walkers around them.

"We're in the clear." He told the little girl.

...

Ben and Clementine had hurried their pace as the night started the set in, seeing it wasn't safe at night. Ben was constantly looking around corners and essayed to look out for anything living, not because of the walkers, but because he was hoping to find Molly perhaps, and she'd be able to help him or something.

Clementine had her head lowed and refused to talk. She'd stop her crying, but it was obvious that she had an immense depression within her. Ben wished that Christa and Omid could console her at the very least.

They now found themselves among the woods; the traces of the civilization of Savannah were starting to disappear. Ben remembered when they first had arrived here, so he thought to be in the right direction.

"Yes!" Ben sibilated, as he spotted a large metal piece of machinery. He started sprinting through the trees until he confirmed what he had seen. The train.

He looked back and saw as Clementine hurtled to catch up with him. They were both alive and they had reached the train. What else could they ask for?

"Omid?! Christa?!" Clementine called out first. Ben stepped towards the ladder near the boxcar and climbed it, and the smaller child did the same. He gazed through the glass of the door of the boxcar and saw a shadow, but he couldn't see too well what it was or who it was.

"Stay here, Clem." Ben adverted, as he pulled out his Glock 17. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to use it if it was a bandit or something, but it was only to assure his safety.

He silently opened the door and gaped inside. It was in the same way they'd left it. All of Chuck's belongings were messily stacked in a corner, a pair of smelly boots were leaned against the wall and both of the lateral doors were shut. And now that Ben was inside, he saw that the person he'd seen was lying on that old mattress, covered in a grimy blanket.

"Chuck…?" Ben blurted out as he stored away his weapon. Clementine, hearing the name of a friendly face, went inside and stood next to Ben.

The human in the cot reacted to the sound of his name being called, and he turned around and glared at the two of them. "Oh. Heya." The homeless old man said, revealing dirty hair and accordingly greasy beard.

"I didn't thought…You're alive?!"

"Seem like it." Chuck replied with no emotion as he tossed away the blanket and sat on his bed. He wore a white t-shirt covered in stains with no sleeves that was too little for him to use, which showed him to have a bit of a gut. He wore socks that had multiple holes in it and still used the same pants as ever.

"Have you seen Omid and Christa?" Ben asked, feeling so thrilled for having found one of his friends.

"The couple?" Chuck demanded with a tired voice and eyes that were tinted red. "Think they in the cab." Clementine turned around and went towards the cab when she heard what Charles had said.

"So, are you…alright?" Ben inquired, since Chuck didn't look in his best state.

"Just great." He blankly said. "Is just I ran outta booze. If ya find some, give it t' me, o' right?"

"Uh, of course." Ben concluded, as he exited the boxcar and left Chuck to sleep.

...

Ben walked out and paced towards the driving cab, and joined up with Clementine on the way there. Just as they enthusiastically hyped their meeting, they heard talking from the cab.

"_Dammit, I should've paid attention to when Kenny taught me how to drive this._"

"_Omid, why are you even learning the controls? We're not leaving until they get here._"

"_I'm learning for when they get here._"

Ben peaked through the window in the door and saw both Omid and Christa. Omid was sitting in the driver's seat, pretending to be maneuvering the various handles and Christa was sputtering words at him with her arms folded. Ben smiled in pure joy, and he burst open the door, not being able to wait any longer to get together with them.

"Shouldn't we even…" Christa stopped her sentence once she heard the door being open. She spun her head around, and widened her eyes seeing who was waiting there. "Ben?! Clementine?!" She said in a tremble voice, as she basically dashed and she hugged Clem dearly.

"Christa." Clem called her name with a tiny bit of happiness in her voice, which disappeared shortly after.

"Ben?" Omid whispered in surprise as he got up and faced the teenager. He tip toed to see past the young man, but he didn't saw the person he was expecting. "He…he didn't make it, did he?" He enquired as he downed his head.

"Omid, sweetie." Christa spoke in a remark, knowing that the mention of Lee would affect the little girl. "Thank God you're here!" She said in a loud tone of voice to try and cheer up the place. "Let's go…wash you up." She added, as she got up and both she and Clementine departed out of the cab. Christa looked back at her boyfriend one last time before entering the boxcar, leaving the two men alone inside the driving station.

"I just can't believe he's gone." Omid confessed with an agonized expression, as he sat on the driving seat and buried his face in his hand in grief. "We've just known him for a few days now, but I knew he was a great, kind man. He for sure didn't deserve what got to him."

"I…I had to shoot him…" Ben conceded, causing Omid to continually look at him. Omid was surprised, he knew that Ben was known in the group for constantly messing up, but just with the things that he had achieved up until now, he was impressed.

"Hey, kid, don't beat yourself up." Omid reassured him, which made Ben feel slightly better. "You did a good job. You got Clem safe here, and we're all reunited now. You did what lots of people couldn't." He finished with a long sigh and he reclined in his chair. "I can't believe what Clem might be going through…losing someone you care about like that…I don't know what I'd do without my Christa." Omid rambled.

"So, what's the plan now?" Ben intervened, not wanting to talk about Lee no more.

"We were waiting for you guys to get here to discuss it, but I was thinking that we should just drive the train and make it for the countryside, like Christa proposed."

"Sounds good a plan as any." Ben agreed, as he looked through the windows and stared statically into the forest. He was now gathered with the group, and he would protect Clementine from whatever horror would lay on the horizon.

**A/N: Ta da, chapter 2 is up! Ben and Clementine are reunited with Chuck, Omid and Christa and they must try to make a living in a world that just gets worse by the minute. Give some feedback if you please to keep this fanfic alive, and I'll see you around!**


	3. A Fresh Start Finale

The Walking Dead: Desperate Measure

A Fresh Start Finale

**A/N: So here's the final chapter of the A Fresh Start Episode. This episode was a short one; it was only kind of a prologue per se. This was my first fanfic that didn't directly follow the game's plot, but I'm happy to see that people are enjoying it! By the way, the OC submitting is still open, so PM me in order to have one of your characters into the story.**

**And last but not least, check the author's note at the end to get a sneak peek at what will happen in the next episode. Sorry for stalling you for so long, and enjoy!**

Christa emerged from the cab door, along with Chuck, who was now wearing his usual clothes: boots, yellow coat, dirty trousers and fingerless gloves.

"Where is she?" Ben demanded about Clementine, seeing she wasn't with them.

"She's out back in the boxcar." Christa announced as she gazed the floor, crossing her arms. "I got her a place to sleep, but I doubt she'll rest much after what happened…"

"So, guys, me and Ben were talking," Omid told the group, excited to drive the train. "We should make it to the countryside, like you said. We can use the train to put as much distance between us and Savannah, and then make a run for it."

"Looks like we don't have much of a plan, now." Christa sadly agreed. Lee was what you could call the leader of the group. He was always frosty and always knew the right thing to do and the right path to take. Now that he was gone, she was worried if the group would last long.

"Okay, then it's settled." Omid said, before noticing that Chuck was there too. "Hey, so what do you think? Wanna come along with us?"

"Don't look like I got much choice." Chuck admitted.

"This is your train, Charles. And you're a part of this group." Christa backed up Omid, facing Chuck.

"Fine, let's go on ourselves on a lil' road trip. Always fancied one of those." He smiled as he waved his hand.

"Great, I'll take first shift." Omid chuckled as he sat properly in his chair and rubbed his hands against one another. "So…how do you start this thing?" He inquired as he scratched his head.

"I think it's here." Ben opinionated before pushing the first lever. The train roared with life, and started slowly rotating its wheels and engines. Before long, they were speeding down the railroad of the mighty USA, trying to survive out in the wilderness.

…

Today was a beautiful night. The moon was absent from the skies, but above their head various stars shined, emitting a sparkling little light, and the air was warm and fresh. Chuck exchanged with Omid for the night since he was starting to fall asleep on the controls, and now he and Christa were cuddled with each other in the corner of the boxcar, trying to fall asleep even with the train's howling.

Ben woke up suddenly, panting. He had had a nightmare. That terrible scene was repeating itself in his head: his painful arm from holding the gun for long, the loud _bang_ of the bullet exiting the barrel and the _click _of the shell casing falling on the floor, Lee's brain being penetrated and splashed onto the wall…

He unzipped his jacket and tossed it away to refresh his body temperature. He then spotted out of the corner of his eye Clementine sitting on the open boxcar door, staring at the outside. _Should I go and talk to her?_

He got up, paced toward her and sat next to her. "Hey. Not sleeping much?" She nodded negatively in reply.

He didn't know what else to say. He started scrambling his mind to search something good for him to tell her. Then he recalled his little sister. What did he do when she had trouble sleeping…? Now that he'd thought about it, her sister didn't have a problem sleeping, she'd drop in an instant.

"Can you, uh…sing me a lullaby?" She asked, trying to not sound too childish. But her parents usually did that, and it usually soothed her.

"Want me to sing you a lullaby?" Ben enquired in disbelief. He sighed, and then acknowledged that he couldn't remember any songs. _Guess I'll have to make stuff up. _"_Over the mountains…_" He chanted, trying to think of something that rhymed with mountains. "_There lays the fountain…_" _That doesn't make any sense, _he thought. He stopped and cleared his throat before resuming. "_The skies will keep being gray…but everything will be okay…_" He sang with out of tune voice and a nonsense rhythm. "_The monsters will go away…_"

"Okay, thank you." She politely thanked like she didn't like Ben's singing before cowering away in a corner and trying to get some shut-eye.

Now Ben was the one that didn't feel like sleeping. He shuffled towards the door and simply peered non-stop out to the various trees who passed by them so quickly that they were only a blur. He mentally looked back at what he managed to do: he got Clementine out of Savannah and found the group. Ben was aware of what lied ahead of them. It was a dangerous world. But he would change, like he promised to Lee. He would protect Clementine.

…

Ben opened his eyes and noticed a pale orang sky outside. It probably was morning by now. He was surprised in the fact that he still was such a heavy sleeper in the apocalypse. Clementine was still sleeping in the corner, and Christa and Omid were too still in slumber.

"What the…?" Ben muttered as he noticed the train braking violently. He heard the deafening sound of the wheels making friction with the metal tracks, making the train cease to be driven. Both Omid and Christa felt it and they woke up, yawning, and Clem followed.

"_Folks, y'might wanna come here._" They heard Chuck shout. Ben, Christa and Omid all got up in a hurry with concerned expression across their faces.

They rushed out of the boxcar, yet Clementine stayed inside to let the grown-ups deal with it. They hurtled in the tiny passage of the train and they burst inside the cab, Christa being the one in front of their little line.

"What's wrong?!" She worriedly asked, and Chuck beckoned at a blinking light in the dash controls.

"What does that mean?!" Ben demanded, getting stressed about what the light might have meant.

"I dunno." Chuck disclosed with a hoarse voice. "All I know, I is not the one that stopped the train. That light started blinkin' and then it started braking all by itself."

"Must be outta fuel." Omid guessed, becoming preoccupied because diesel was hard to come by in the end of the world.

"Does this thing even run on fuel?!" Ben enquired, since he didn't know jack about trains.

Everyone shook their heads. "All I know," Chuck continued. "Is that we walkin' from now on." Omid and Christa grabbed onto the console while Ben gripped the door as the train gave its final 'step' and paused completely. "End o' the road it seems."

Christa looked out the windows, looking for someplace they could take refuge in and scavenge for supplies. But she only perceived a dark and large forest surrounding them. "Let's go get our stuff."

Christa and Omid returned to the boxcar to get the little they had, which consisted of a water bottle and some candy bars. They really had to find some more food. Ben didn't have anything on him, except for the white Glock he'd found the previous day. Chuck had his backpack and his scratched guitar.

Ben chased Christa and Omid as they entered once again in the boxcar. "Hey, wake up, Clem." Ben softly said as he waved Clementine a little bit.

"Is it morning yet?" She flatly asked.

"Yes. The train's stopped, and we gotta go." He quickly explained, as both of them got up. Ben lent her her backpack, which she gladly hung in her shoulders.

In a matter of minutes, everyone was set and ready to go. They had gathered whatever supplies they still had, and they started marching towards were they were supposed to go. The difference was that they were now on foot, and not on train. Ben thought slightly unnerving how Clementine didn't say a word and always kept her head down.

"Where do we go now?" Ben asked as they started walking into the horizon.

"I don't know Ben." Christa divulged with a sigh. They were in the countryside, so now they could only hope that there weren't as much zombies and bandits there. "We're probably in the countryside. Let's try to find a town or a house or something."

"Yeah, we'll figure something…" Omid interrupted his sentence as the cold morning wind swept by them, carrying an eerie sound to their ears.. Everybody cut short their hike as they started hearing it too.

"What is that?" Clementine murmured.

"I'm not sure, hon. That can only be…" Chuck trailed off as sudden realization struck him like lightning.

"Walkers." Christa finished his sentence, as the sound neared towards them. It was the infuriating sound of moaning.

Just then, they spotted a lurker appearing from the forest. It seemed to be a man, who wore farmer's clothes and was bald. Then another trio of zombies appeared next to it, sensing the scent of human flesh. The group turned their heads to the other side, and noted the same thing happening: walkers stumbling towards them to get a meal. Lots of others followed, most of them releasing a putrid smell and accordingly skin tone. Dozens became hundreds, and they just kept emerging from between the trees.

"What the fuck?!" Omid screamed, as he pulled out his revolver. The walkers kept limping towards them, and even though they were slow, they were starting to form a circle around them.

"Shit! It must have been the train!" Christa remarked, feeling so stupid that they had forgotten how the train attracted walkers from all over.

Everybody started pulling out their weapons and slowly backing away. "We're surrounded!" Ben yelled the obvious. "What'd we do?!"

"Fuck…RUN FOR IT!" Chuck hollered as he shot the closest walker with his revolver in the head, sending its blood and brains in the air.

**A/N: So here's the last part of Episode 1: A Fresh Start. The next episode will be longer and will have choices that you guys will have to make. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and don't forget to check out the trailer below for Episode 2: Punks With Guns**

_Next time on The Walking Dead…_

"I'd appreciate if you didn't take all of my shit." A man with southern accent said, aiming a gun at Ben.

…

"Is that a…train?" A guy said with a surprised voice, while being in the middle of the woods.

"Huh, seems like it…" Another man said with a grin.

"Boss's gonna love to hear we got some new meat in town!" He evilly said.

…

"This place is dangerous, we gotta leave! You guys brought the pack o' wolves right to us!"

…

"Shit!" Ben shouted as the window next to him was broken into shards by a bullet.

"Wait, where the fuck are our guns?!"

…

"How much of them are they?"

"Couldn't get a sure count, but it's definitely under ten. They have some men and women, along with a teenager and a little kid."

"Good. Try to capture them alive. Kill the men if necessary, but absolutely leave the women and the kids alive."

…

"We can't have her around. Ben, you're the swing vote here."

…

"Ah, dammit!" A man screamed as he was hit by a bullet.


	4. Punks With Guns Part 1

The Walking Dead: Desperate Measure

Punks With Guns Part 1 – A GROUP DIVIDED

**A/N: So you guys might be slightly confused about what's happening! I'll bring you guys up to speed, I didn't like the direction where Desperate Measure was going so I decided to re-write this episode! By the way, any characters you see here that have the same names as characters from the game aren't the same person! For example, if you see a guy named Ralph it's not the same person from the game. Sorry for this tiny delay but I think that the story will be much better this way. Enjoy!**

Ben kept turning his head around, simply gawking at the walkers closing in on them. They were coming from the trees, materializing like rabbits exiting their lair. "Get to the boxcar!" Christa shouted, being the level-headed of the group. Ben shook his head; he had to keep his shit together. He gripped Clem's hand so strong that even she let out a screech from the pain, and then he ran after them whilst he dragged the little girl. He didn't dare to look at the menace that was present; although the walkers' moaning was giving him a headache.

Chuck vaulted onto the boxcar, and then politely helped Christa get on it. The zombies were catching their speed; so Omid pulled out his revolver and shot at the horde to give them some extra time. Ben aided Clementine onto the boxcar and then he followed, disastrously jumping on the boxcar. Chuck paced to the other side and closed the sliding door on that end. "Omid, c'mon!" Ben screamed at him. He cursed a word when his gun clicked, but he only had the time to store away his gun and to get on the boxcar. In front of him were various corpses strewed due to the slaying. The second Omid stepped on the boxcar, Christa pushed the sliding door to shut it. It made a deafening shriek as it was shuttered.

The group panted a little from the adventure they had gotten through outside. Now with both of the sliding doors closed, the only light came from the small glass on the tinier door that led to the passage outside. Ben basically jumped from fear when the walkers started battering on the doors, albeit they were too stupid to know that their rotten nails wouldn't take down those gigantic chunks of metal.

"Everybody alright?!" Christa demanded between breaths. The group replied with 'yeah' and positive nods.

"Fuck!" Omid spat as he scratched his head nervously. Eventually he calmed down, and then he leaned on the wall and started reloading his weapon. "It appears we'll be stuck here for a while."

"Are they gonna get us?!" Clementine sputtered in fright.

"No, honey, don't worry about that." Christa soothed her quickly.

"I don't think we just be concerned." Ben stated, albeit he was still fidgeting a lot and his voice was gruff. "I'm sure they can't reach us. We're safe!"

"Positive thinkin', kid." Omid praised, putting the revolver back into his belt after it was fully loaded. "But now we're officially trapped in here."

"Won't we be able to get outta through there?" Chuck proposed, pointing his finger at the door that illuminated the room dimly.

"Yeah, that's a good plan. Except that the whole train is surrounded by walkers." Christa contradicted, folding her arms and releasing a long sigh.

"Can't we create some sort of…distraction?" Ben suggested, moving his arms to reinforce his argument.

"Perhaps." Christa said, rubbing her fingers through her chin. "But how?"

"We have to think of something quick." Omid specified.

"What if I go over to the other side of the train?" Ben uttered. He had risked his life before for the group, but if his life meant the safety of his friends, he had to do it. It's what he had promised Lee; keep Clementine safe. "I'll catch their attention, give you an opening for you to escape."

"Yes, but what will you do after?" Omid enquired, folding his arms.

"I…I don't know. Come back here and I'll meet you guys." Ben told them. It was the best he could think of.

"I ain't lettin' the youngster risk 'is life for us." Chuck came forward, nearing himself closer to the gang. "I'll go. I got the least t' lose." Christa opened her mouth to riposte, but Chuck made a gesture to indicate that he couldn't be talked back. "Nah, no time t' squabble." The hobo reached for his gun and checked the cylinder for the ammo. "Open them doors as soon as you hear me shootin' and run. I'll try to meet y'all afterwards."

"But…" Omid quarreled, but was cut off when Chuck flung open the door and exited outside. The group gathered around the tiny window and saw his moves. He had his back against the train while walking to his side, avoiding the undead arms that flew to grab his leg; sometimes he had to kick one or two walkers to ensure that he wasn't grabbed.

"I can't believe we just let Chuck go out there alone." Ben confessed.

"It was his choice." Christa responded, getting ready for their getaway. Sometimes she sounded colder that she really was, but after surviving some time out on the road a person would change. "Plus there was nothin' we could've done to stop him." As soon as she finished her sentence, they heard a shot. It was time.

Omid and Christa both started opening on of the doors. The rusty mechanisms made it a bit difficult to push it open. Ben looked down at Clementine, who had her head lowered and her backpack dangling from her shoulders. "Ready?" Ben inquired, and she nodded. "Don't fret. I won't let anything harm you."

They heard a few more bullets being fired the moment they managed to open the door. There were a half-dozen of walkers who hadn't chased down the gunfire twirling their arms to munch the survivors. Omid placed his boot on the face of one of the zombies and then pushed it; causing it to fall like he was a bowling pin. Christa didn't waste any time and pulled out a knife, stabbing any zombies that laid there. When she was finished with the slaughtering her hands and sleeves were daubed in gore. "C'mon, guys, we gotta hurry."

After the couple had domed down the boxcar, Ben and Clementine followed. The group shifted their vision to the other end of the train, and they spotted Chuck on top of the train, firing at the lurkers. The homeless man noticed the people standing static, gazing at him. "Run! What're y'all waitin' for?!" Chuck hooted at them.

But then the lurkers started noticing the four people. Some zombies crawled from underneath the train, lunging at the survivors. A handful of walkers that had followed Chuck were now trekking back towards Ben and the group. And other patches of lurkers appeared from the other side of the train, realizing that their prey was there.

"Run, guys!" Omid ordered, but when they spun around they were cut off from their escape by a few biters that popped up from the bushes and trees of the forest, like teenagers who were late for the party. "Shit, we're surrounded!"

Ben was startled. Being face to face with the zombies was way more terrifying that watching them from a distance. The young man could smell their horrendous breath, gaze deeply at their empty, dead eyes as their claws swung their way and their jaws clobbering with the desire for flesh.

His instinct was like any other; he made sure he was grabbing Clementine strongly and then made a mad dash for the trees. He tackled a walker carelessly, although verifying that he wasn't bitten. "Ben!" Christa called out, as the teenager escaped towards the forest.

Ben looked past his shoulder one last time. He saw as Omid and Christa were cornered by lurkers, and they would soon be on top of them. Ben grinded his teeth but kept his eyes steadied in front of him. He just kept running, not turning his face away, he simply kept on pushing all of the bushes and edgy branches aside.

"Ben! We left Christa and Omid behind, we have to go get them!" The little girl cried. Ben stopped to relax for a moment. He panted massively and glanced at Clementine, whose face was crummy with bespatters of blood.

"Look, Clem…we can't go back for them…they were surrounded…" Ben panted, recovering his energy.

"We can't leave without them!" Clementine insisted. With Lee gone, Omid and Christa were the only people she could call 'parent figures'.

"Clem, listen." Ben said, squatting to her height and placing his hands on her shoulders. "I know how you feel. I've lost people too. But Christa and Omid are strong people. Don't worry, I'm sure they got away."

"What about Chuck?" She inquired.

"He's strong too, Clem." Ben reassured. "He's been surviving all by himself for a long time now. We'll try to get back here once the walkers clear out to get them." Ben said, half-lie and half-truth.

"Okay, Ben." Clementine agreed, wiping her nose on her hoodie. She wished to go back and help them at that time, but Ben was the authority there and he was the one keeping her safe.

"Now let's go somewhere safe." Ben instructed, hoping that his cowardliness hadn't killed his three friends. He had no clue on how sometimes he was such a wimp but sometimes he managed to risk his life and stand up for himself and others. He just wished he could be like that all the time.

…

Clem and Ben were walking among the trees that enclosed them. Ben wasn't really a sucker for the wilderness before the apocalypse, being raised in a big city and all. After all, there were the insects, the wild animals and the chance of becoming lost in the wild. And nowadays there were the walkers.

"Well, well, if it ain't ol' Aaron…" They heard an unfamiliar voice speak. Ben mouthed the words 'get down', and both of them crouched down. Ben pushed aside a couple branches blossoming with leaves and saw what was going on. He saw a man kneeling on the floor whilst crossing his fingers on the back of his head. Around him were two bandits, one of them pacing around him while the other stayed still at a couple feet away from them. They all stood in a campsite. It had a red tent and a fire pit in the middle of the clearing that had been put out a while ago, but the hot ashes were still releasing smoke into the atmosphere.

The man kneeling, supposedly Aaron, had long and oily, greasy raven hair. He had immersive green eyes and he was rather pale. Although he seemed to be quite though he was a bit skinny, indicating that he might have been starving.

One of the bandits, the one that was walking around Aaron and the guy that had talked earlier was even paler than Aaron. His head was completely bald but he had a long beard sprouting out of his cheeks. He wore camouflage pants and an army vest with multiple pockets.

The last one, who was further away from Aaron and Bald Dude, was of African-American ethnicity. Most of his appearance was concealed by his clothing, which consisted of a burgundy scarf, red skiing goggles, dark blue jeans and accordingly dark blue boots with metal toes. He had a holster on his back with a machete.

"Fuck you, Adam." Aaron hissed at the bald guy, revealing his real name.

"Shut the fuck up." Adam ordered, stopping in front of Aaron. The guy with goggles kept quiet at all times. "Thought that just because ya got outta a cell we wouldn't find you? Well Howard is wanting you to return."

"Ben." Clementine murmured, tugging Ben's sleeve. "We have to help that man! He's in danger."

Ben looked at the two men. They had guns and it could be dangerous. What could he do?

**[HELP AARON] [LEAVE AARON]**

** A/N: So I hoped you have enjoyed this chapter. Remember to vote and have a good one! And if you have a trouble in which you aren't able to review you can just PM me!**


	5. Punks With Guns Part 2

The Walking Dead: Desperate Measure

Punks With Guns Part 2 – WILD ADVENTURES

**A/N: Here's the fifth chapter ladies and gentlemen. I would like to thank the people who have sent OCs and remember to leave some feedback to help me improve this! If you have trouble reviewing because you can't re-review you can PM me! Enjoy.**

Ben examined the situation. Adam was facing his back towards him and Victor was somewhat oblivious but wasn't totally facing his back toward him, meaning that he could be spotted. What if Aaron was the bad guy in everything? All he knew was that he couldn't let that man die.

"Stay here." Ben told Clementine, controlling his breathing so he could be stealthy. Clementine nodded.

Ben's heart was jumping on his rib cage, it seemed like a bomb nearly exploding. His body became hot from the excitement and some tads of sweat slid through his neck. He started pacing towards Adam whilst crouching. The problem was that all the vegetation was the only thing that clouted his presence, but he would have to go out into the clearing in order to seize Adam.

Unfortunately Ben wasn't Batman and he stepped on a branch that snapped loudly. Ben froze in the position he was in, and he raised his head to see if he had been detected. Adam turned around and glared at Ben's location.

"Hey! Who the fuck is…" He shouted, but was cut off when three gun shots rang in the air. Ben saw as Adam was pierced with three holes in his chest. Blood was sprayed on the air and on the greenish grass, and then his body fell on the ground like timber chopped by a lumberjack.

Ben blinked, trying to process what had happened just now. Aaron was standing up with a Glock 17 in his hand, with smoke coming out of the barrel. The dude with the goggles stared with an incredulous face at the scene happening before his very eyes.

Aaron spun around and aimed the gun at the goggle guy. The latter took some steps back and waved his hand in front of his chest, as a plead for his life. "Hey, hey, man!" The goggle dude said, removing his goggles and the scarf to reveal his identity. "It's me, Victor! Don't shoot."

"Drop your weapon." Aaron commanded with a firm voice, the gun always pointed at the bandit. Victor slowly twisted his arm to reach of his machete and then gradually ejected the melee weapon and he threw in on the ground.

Clementine walked up to Ben and they both marched into Aaron's campsite. Ben covered Clem's eyes a bit so she wouldn't see the corpse of Adam that had three gaps in the back. Aaron took a quick glance at the two of them, but then quickly focused on Victor again.

"How do I know you ain't gonna call your friends and slit my throat during my sleep, Vic'?" Aaron demanded, and Victor had a twitchy face; probably because he had no idea on what to say.

"Man, you've known me for a while now." Victor insisted with a fluttering voice. "I can't survive out here, man. I'm only runnin' with these guys 'cause I gotta live!"

Aaron shook his head. "Run." He ordered in a threatening tone. "And if I see you again I'll kill you."

"You gonna send me out there without a weapon?!" Victor asked, jabbing his finger at his machete that laid on the ground. "That's suicide, man, and you know it."

"You're lucky you're alive. Now go!" Aaron repeated. Victor turned back and started sprinting through the woods until he was finally gone.

Aaron jogged towards Adam's body and then fired a single round into his skull to prevent reanimation. Then he looked at Ben and Clementine, who had seen the entire scene.

"So, uh, I'm Ben." Ben presented himself.

"Aaron." The other man said. He took a step towards the teenager, yet he stopped dead on his tracks and extended his eyelids fully once he saw Clementine. "Oh my…you have a child with you?!" He asked with a big amazement.

"Yeah, I do." Ben awkwardly confirmed.

Aaron peered Clementine and she shyly hid behind Ben's tall legs. "What's your name?" Aaron quizzed the little girl.

"C-Clementine." She recognized, blushing a bit. Aaron chuckled a bit.

"Clementine. That's a pretty name." He complimented. "I'm, uh, sorry about Adam. Just don't look at it." Aaron apologized for Adam's mutilated body; he didn't want those images scared into her mind. Then he gaped at Ben. "Thanks for the distraction. If it weren't for you I could've been dead by now."

"It's okay." Ben humbly endorsed, scratching his head nervously.

"Is she your sister? Daughter even?" Aaron enquired, always enthusiastic.

Ben giggled at his proposal of him being Clem's father. "No, we're not…related."

"Hmm, okay." Aaron understood, biting his lip. He reached for his pocket, which Ben temporarily became startled on what he was going to take out, but he then pulled out a candy bar. "It's not much, but I'm sure she likes chocolate."

"No, thank you, sir." Clementine politely refused Aaron's proposal. She was really timid around strangers but she would get better once she'd know Aaron.

"So where do you guys come from?" Aaron enquired as he tossed the candy bar back in his trousers.

"We came by train." Ben elucidated.

"Train? Jesus, you really shouldn't have done that. That train was heard throughout the entire region. Now every bandit's gonna know there's new meat in town." Aaron explained, folding his arms.

"We were split up from a few friends." Ben elaborated. Clementine kept quiet, not wanting to interrupt the grown-ups' conversation. "Could you help us…find them?"

"Yeah, of course. I have to repay you afterall." Aaron agreed. "Where did you guys got split?"

"At the railroad."

"Well, then, lead the way."

Ben and Clementine along with Aaron began marching through the forest, in hopes of re-meeting their friends back at the train. Ben always stayed next to Aaron and he didn't let him out of his sight. He might've been friendly back there, but you never knew.

"Who were those people back there?" Ben questioned Aaron, so they could make small talk as they walked. "And that Howard guy the bald dude was talking about?"

Aaron sighed. "They're a bunch of fuckin' sickos, that's what." Aaron eyed at Clementine and donned a concerned face. "Oops, pardon my language. Anyways, not to far from here, there's this town. Can't remember its name. Locals started gathering and began to form a community there. That zone wasn't that much affected by the biters in the beginning, so it was easy. They put cars blocking the town's entrances and they got the keys to a police precinct, that was stocked with a bunch of guns. Heavy power, man, M4s, Desert Eagles, a lot. But then families started dying. In the end, that place was crammed with insane people. Howard is the leader of these bandits. The problem is that these guys are both smart and violent. They know that they need rules and a society, otherwise everything crumbles. Howard lets his men do whatever they want once they're outside the walls they built, but inside there are rules. Usually, they lock up any outsiders in cells. They use them to rape, kill, and even eat sometimes."

Ben frowned, after hearing Aaron's long story. Clementine, who was quiet, seemed a bit shocked from what she had heard. He was lucky that he had found him. If he hadn't he couldn't have been warned of the threat they were facing.

"How do you know all this?" Ben asked.

"I was in there once." Aaron explained, gazing at the floor. "But I got out."

They kept walking non-stop, but in a few minutes they had arrived at the train. Most of the zombies had dispersed and were roaming around, but in smaller numbers. Ben quickly started searching with his vision for any clues about his friends, but he didn't see anybody.

"Crap." Aaron cursed, studying the multiple walkers roaming around. "Where did you see your friends last time?"

"Over there." Ben led his finger at the end of the train, where Chuck had made a distraction.

"Okay, follow me. Is Clementine prepared?" He asked, and Clem nodded.

Aaron pulled out Victor's machete in order to save ammunition. Clementine seemed determined and she didn't show off signs of being afraid. Aaron started sprinting towards the place Ben had indicated whilst he and Clementine followed right behind him.

A walker crossed their path, but it didn't even have time to look at Aaron because he slashed its skull in half. Aaron kept cutting through any lurkers stepping in their way, and Clementine didn't even bat an eye. She was probably already used to it.

"I got ya covered. Go." Aaron told him, as he faced his back towards Ben and killed any zombies that approached him.

"Hey, Chuck, you up there?!" Ben spoke with his head facing the sky. He was greeted with a face that popped out of the train's ceiling.

"Benjamin?" Chuck called out. "Get here, it's not safe!"

Ben let Clementine hop on the train before he did, and then he called Aaron so he could do the same. They jumped on the hood and then climbed onto the roof of the train.

"Thank God you're safe Chuck." Ben confessed, feeling relieved that one of his friends had made it. Aaron continually stared below them, glaring at the horde.

"I can say the same thing." He said, noting that he had a new friend. "Whose that pal o' yours?"

Aaron stopped looking at the walkers and glanced at Chuck. "I'm Aaron. Pleasure to meet you."

"Do you have any idea where Christa and Omid might've gone?!" Ben demanded, worrying about the couple he had abandoned to the dead.

"I did not see much," Chuck admitted, guilt weighing down on his chest because his distraction had failed. "But I think they ran into the forest. Never saw them again though."

Ben sighed heavily. They were alive, but could have been killed in the wilderness.

"Let's go in the boxcar." Chuck uttered, using his thumb to point in its direction. "It's safer there."

…

It was confusing to think that it was nighttime already. The sun was beginning to set down and the Earth was becoming obscure. After they retreated into the boxcar most of the zombies had migrated somewhere else since they couldn't get to the humans, and it was considerably safe outside, besides a handful of lurkers here and there. Aaron didn't feel very safe in the train because it was a live wire for zombie activity and bandits too, but they wouldn't find any buildings where they could take shelter.

When it had become safe, Aaron had picked up some kindling and they were gathered around a nice, warm fire inside the boxcar. Their shadows danced in the walls in mysterious ways. Ben wondered why Aaron was being so helpful and nice; perhaps he was being paranoid but it was this rare to come across someone…normal.

"You guys wanna tell me where you come from?" Aaron suggested. "To pass the time."

"We came from Atlanta." Ben clarified. "I was with my friend Travis and my teacher, Mr. Parker." Ben started thinking about his two friends and he felt bad about not missing them anymore. Perhaps he had learned to live with the loss of people. "They didn't make it and Clementine's group took me in. In the end…not many of us were left."

Clementine, at the tiny reference of Lee and her group, shed a tear. Ben and Aaron noticed, so Ben patted her on the back to soothe her. "Oh darn. Sorry for asking." Aaron retracted his question. "I guess it's my turn then." Aaron said as he cleared his throat. Chuck, who was sitting on a lawn chair, picked up his guitar and started pulling its strings to make a small melody to accompany Aaron's story. "It's hard to think that in the beginning we were so many…when all this started, I locked myself up in my neighborhood with my family and friends. We were a lot and thought we were safe. One of my friends, Felix, got bit and turned. Took a chunk outta my uncle David. Eventually, that place got more dangerous and we decided to hit the road." He took a small pause to breathe. "One day, we found this factory. It had high fences, perfect to keep out the biters. But there were these bandits there. Ruled by an arrogant asshole called Ned. He took all of our women to rape, Brooke, Ashley and my girlfriend Gwen. We had…many losses…my dad died and gave me this watch." He unraveled his wrist and exhibited a fancy watch, with various decorations and with a beat up and vintage look. "It was just me, Gwen and a friend called Thomas. He got killed by scavengers and those…motherfuckers forced me as they…as they…" He stopped to inhale some more air. His eyes watered but he kept the tears from leaking. His voice was both sad and angry. "I'm the only one left. I was heading North, 'cause I figured that since winter's coming, the biters freeze their ass off with the cold."

There was silence in the room, except for Chuck that played a music that was the most beautiful sound the survivors had heard in a while. "My condolences." Chuck said in a raspy voice.

"Sorry for what happened to your family." Clementine repeated what the hobo said, wiping her face. Aaron turned his face away.

"Someone should take watch." Aaron observed, gazing out the window in the door.

"I can do it." Ben volunteered, as he got up.

"Are you sure?" Aaron insisted.

"Yeah, I can handle it." Ben concluded as he opened the door and exited.

He placed his hands on top of the boxcar and used the rails as a support for his feet. Then he pulled his body up and sat on the ceiling. He got his bearings and spotted lots of silhouettes meandering. The nightly air was cold and fresh.

"Ben?" Clementine whispered his name. Ben looked down from the boxcar and saw the girl standing there, regarding him. "Can you help me climb?"

"Uh, okay." He said. He lent his arm to which she clung on to, and then Ben pulled her up. Once she was on the boxcar, she sat next to Ben. "Aren't you sleepy or something?"

"No." She flatly blurted out. "Do you think…Christa and Omid made it?"

"I'm sure they did Clementine, didn't I tell you that before?" He confided with a smile. "We'll meet them sometime again soon."

"I don't want anyone else to die." She sadly confessed.

"Nobody's gonna die. We won't allow it." Ben asserted, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Perhaps it's best if you go to sleep. We have a long day tomorrow."

That statement convinced Clementine, and she got up and carefully ascended back down. Ben sighed and he ogled at the trees that were just a few meters away from him. And he noticed something weird in them; but he wasn't sure what.

He looked around and didn't see any zombie in the proximity. He jumped down the boxcar, careful to land on the right position. Then he stood up and strolled towards the trees, always peaking beyond his shoulders to certify that there were no walkers hidden in the darkness. He finally reached the trees and inspected the one nearby. It had a cross carved on it.

"What the…" He spoke but fell on the ground when he was hit in the back of the head.

His vision was blurry and he toppled on his back. He contemplated the sky and saw a man standing there. He couldn't see him too well, but then he kneeled next to Ben and neared his face to Ben's, allowing the teenager to see his facial features. He was tall and tanned, and bore Rambo muscles. He was green eyes like a cobra and bright blonde hair.

"Thought your little homo parade could get away with killin' one of our own?" He talked to Ben, although he was too incapacitated to communicate. "Nah, nah, that's not how things work. You guys are careless as all shit. I know you got your little bud Aaron in there. That hobo Chuck. And the innocent little girl, Clementine. Like the fruit. Hehe, you guys are gon' have fun with your good pal Samuel here." He grinned evilly.

**A/N: Well, shit. Ben has been knocked out unconscious and he and his friends are tangled in a bandit war. Remember, just because there's a guy named Victor doesn't mean he's the same guy from the game. Hope you guys liked the fanfic, drop some feedback if you may and I'll see all of you in the next chapter!**


	6. Punks With Guns Part 3

The Walking Dead: Desperate Measure

Punks With Guns Part 3 – PUNISHMENT

Ben managed to open his eyes a bit, but his hearing was ringing and dazzled. His vision wasn't too good, but he felt that two men were dragging him by the armpits. Sharp branches, spiky leaves and dirt stuck onto his feet as they were hauled to an unknown place. One of the men was bald, had a furry goatee and wore a grey t-shirt. The other one had sunglasses, tattoos of snakes and dragons clouting his skin and donned a thick coat.

He almost lost balance when he was thrown on the ground. He blinked until the tears in his eyes cleared his eyeballs. He was on his knees with his hands tied behind his back. He was within a clearing, illuminated with primitive torches buried in the ground. Five men dressed as bikers were there, including Samuel. They all donned leather vests, jeans, hiking boots, sunglasses, bandanas, scarfs and had grown massive beards, just like motorbike riders. But Ben's fear came true as three of those men forced Clementine, Chuck and Aaron to bow on the floor, all of them with their hands bounded together. And the guy that pushed Aaron onto the grass was Victor.

"Victor?! You betraying son of a bitch!" Aaron screamed at him, trying to get rid of the cuffs to beat the shit out of him. "I could've killed right there and now and this is how you repay me?!"

"I'm…sorry…" Victor silently apologized, like he actually regretted it.

"Piece of shit! I'm gonna get ya!" He hissed, but Victor turned his back away and marched near his friends.

"Ben? Ben?" Clementine called the name of her mentor, breathing heavily from the fear.

"I'm here, Clementine." Ben asserted, not wanting the little girl to panic. "Just stay calm."

"Ben? Clementine?" The teenager heard a familiar voice speak in a quiver. They turned their necks and saw two people they knew: Omid and Christa. Their clothes were drenched in muck and gore, and Omid's eyes were so open they seemed like they were gonna bulge out.

"Christa? Omid? I thought you guys were dead!" Ben confessed, wanting to hug them in joy but he was restraint.

"So good to see you're alright!" Omid exclaimed with a smile that disappeared quickly. "No need to panic. Everything's gonna be okay." Omid tried to soothe the situation.

Then the teen noticed that four more prisoners were there. One of them was a man. He was rather towering and had an athletic body, with biceps as rigid as ropes. He bare a black hoodie with matching dark jeans. His head germinated with curly black hair.

The other three prisoners were women, and Ben was surprised to see that one of them was a kid, around thirteen years old. The kid had a lilac shirt, blue denim trousers and pink trainers. She was pale and had emerald green eyes that made contrast with her blond hair.

One of the other women was of short height, she had ebony black hair cinched in a ponytail along with blue eyes. She displayed shorts and a t-shirt.

The last woman had sapphire eyes and brown hair tied in a ponytail. She was a bit pale and donned a black top, bootleg trousers and pink and black sneakers.

"Silence." Samuel ordered. "Did you get everybody?" He enquired his men that had formed a line behind the prisoners. He had a Glock 17 enclosed in his fingers.

"Yes." One of them responded.

"Okay, then." Samuel said in a thrilled tone. "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" He started pacing slowly in front of the half-circle the prisoners composed. All of them had their heads lowered to avoid eye-contact and nobody had the courage to say a word. "What's going to happen is quite simple. Aaron boy over there," He declared, pointing a finger at the same person. Aaron glared at him with a furious expression. "Killed one of our men. And such an action against our 'brotherhood' cannot be forgiven. Not without punishment." He took a pause. The only sounds that were heard were the crickets singing and the torches' fire crisping, natural things of the eerie night. "It's simple. One life for the life of our men. Usually, I'd shoot all of you and move on, but today I'm in a good mood. And I'm in for a game. So who wants to go?" He demanded, widening his arms like he was gonna give a hug. He inherited a malicious smile and turned his head, eyeing each and every one of the prisoners. Needless to say nobody volunteered. "Well, well. Looks like I'm the one who's gotta decide."

"Clementine. Whatever happens, don't look, okay?" Ben murmured at the little girl. If someone died, he didn't want her to see it. She nodded as he gazed at the ground.

"How about you Shane?" Samuel broached, aiming his gun at the man with the curly black hair and black hoodie. He lifted his face and demonstrated absolute fear.

"No! Don't you hurt him!" The girl with ebony black hair and shorts intervened.

"Hmm, feisty." Samuel smirked, as he crouched near the same girl and clutched her jaw, making her cheeks look like inflatable. She moaned because he was hurting her a bit. "You're lucky, Maritza. I wouldn't have the courage to kick the shit out of your pretty face." He concluded before he got up and faced the people again. "Okay, Maritza is out of the equation. And I'm not beating the kids up, I'm not that cynical." He stayed in silence, as if in to wait for someone to come forward. "Fuck it, Vix and Christa are out of the equation too. Because all of the ladies are just too damn gorgeous to get their faces smashed in!" He laughed at the end of that sentence. "So that leaves with…" He had to pause for a second to remember the names of everybody. "Ben, Chuck, Aaron, Omid and Shane. Plenty to go around."

"I volunteer." Everybody couldn't believe the words Chuck just had said. The homeless man got on his feet and peaked at Samuel's. "I volunteer. Ya leave these people alone."

Even Samuel had a flummoxed face. He felt insulted that someone actually had the balls to stand up to him. And he was gonna make him pay for that.

"No, no! You don't have to do this! This is my fault!" Aaron beseeched, not wanting the old man to pay for his mistakes.

"Ya shut your pie hole, now." Chuck instructed Aaron.

"Charles, don't do this! What're you doing?!" Christa demanded before she started crying uncontrollably.

"Babe, just don't look…just don't…" Omid commanded, as Christa bent over her body and tears discharged from her eyes.

"You got some steel balls to be saying that shit to my face!" Samuel shouted as he approached Chuck. He stored away his gun and pulled out an acute knife.

Chuck started breathing heavily but didn't back away from Samuel. He knew what he had done and he knew he had sealed his fate. Ben and his group sobbed and yelled begs of mercy but the others, who didn't know Chuck so well just shifted their attention somewhere else to avoid seeing the horrific scene about to happen.

Samuel grabbed the back of Chuck's neck and then dug the knife deep into his stomach. "NO!" Clementine hysterically sobbed.

"Don't look, don't look…" Ben commanded, as he began to shed some tears. He tried to gaze away, but for some reason he just couldn't.

Samuel thrust the knife deeper. Chuck essayed to scream, but he could only gurgle on the blood that came to his mouth. "Like the taste of the blade?" Samuel whispered in his ear.

Samuel ripped the knife off, sending a splatter of blood onto the air. Chuck tried to make pressure on his wound, but was tied back. He fell on his knees until he collapsed onto the ground with his eyes closed.

"We've gotta go back to camp." Samuel disclosed, before he looked down and noticed that the hobo was still breathing. "Looks like this fucker is still alive. I've had my fun for today. Somebody wanna drag his sorry ass?"

"I…I can carry him…" Shane came forward with watery eyes.

"Shane, shut up." Maritza muttered in a way that only he could listen. "You don't even know him!"

"Fine, fine." Samuel assented. "But if you slow us down I'll put a bullet in both you and him. Okay, boys, get everybody up and movin'. Get ready, little fishes, we got another task for y'all to fulfill." He grinned.

…

After a couple minutes, the five men that included Victor had organized the prisoners two-by-two and they were taking them somewhere unknown. One of the henchmen had taken Shane's restraints off so he could carry Chuck, who was unconscious and heavily injured. Ben had yet to thank him; he didn't know why Shane was so nice but he wasn't complaining.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." Vix, the girl with the brown hair, profaned once they arrive at the spot they were supposed to.

"Ladies and gents, behold!" Samuel conceded with a proud voice.

Samuel aimed his arms at a dirt road in the middle of the woods. What was weirder was that an old, wooden chariot stood there. It appeared quite preserved and polished; it had probably been made before the walkers appeared. Most of the prisoners didn't have an idea on what the chariot was for.

"I'll explain." Samuel elaborated, stepping near the chariot and passing a finger on one of its dusty, large wheel. "Our hometown used to do tours like these back before the dead. You know, due to tourism. And me and my friends feel nostalgic today. But we have no horses." He announced in a disappointed tone. "So you guys are replacing them. You're gonna push the chariot as me and my homies enjoy the ride. String 'em up."

The men obeyed in a moment and started going around the prisoners. They began to tie them around their torso with cords that were knotted around the chariot. "Sammy, we got a problem." The goatee guy spoke.

"What is it?" He impatiently asked as he climbed on the chariot's seats.

"The kids aren't as tall as the adults. The chariot will be unbalanced."

"Dammit." Samuel spat as he rubbed his chin. "Whatever, the kids ride with us."

"Ben. I don't wanna go with that man." Clementine practically begged, looking at Ben's eyes.

"I know Clem." He told her. It broke his heart how he couldn't stop Samuel's evil. "But don't worry. Just do as he says and don't do any shenanigans." He finished as one of the men gripped her hand and forced her into following him. Jasmine, the 13-year old kid was also being taken to the seats by another man. "Let. Go. Of. Me!" She screamed at the man as she kicked to get away. But the dude was too sturdy to be defeated by a child.

"Alrighty then." Samuel hollered. His pals started pulling out beers from six-packs and opening them. It was gonna be harder on Shane because he'd have to use his strength to both carry Chuck who was on the verge of dying and push. "Get ridin'!"

**A/N: So here it is, the sixth chapter. Ben and his group along with four new faces are being taken to a community whilst treated like horses. By the way, it isn't the same Shane from the TV Show or the comic book. All of the OCs sent to me have appeared by now, so I'd like to say a thanks to everybody that submitted them! Thanks to Rebloxic (Samuel, Maritza), RegularShowMemorabilia (Shane), classykazmiller25 (Victor), Veloncy (Aaron), GoldenLombaxGirl (Jasmine, Vix). If you would like to send an OC (or two or whatever) now's a good time. Hope you enjoyed and I'll see you around!**


	7. Punks With Guns Part 4

**The Walking Dead: Desperate Measure**

**Punks With Guns Part 4 – THE GATES**

It had been over a few minutes but the prisoners were already sweating and out of energy. Pushing a chariot seemed easy, especially with the big number of people they were, but if they weren't synched or didn't make the same amount of strength at the same time it wouldn't move the vehicle.

Clementine was sitting behind Samuel and his friends, who were getting wasted except for Samuel who drank with moderation; he couldn't get drunk on the job. Clementine had her arms crossed and gazed at the floor, hoping that the rude men wouldn't pick on her. Jasmine had her arms folded too and had a grumpy face, and sat next to Clementine on the second row seating; although she didn't talk to her. What made the prisoners real angry was the fact that they had to work like horses whilst Samuel and his friends – called Dewey, Curtis and Jon along with Victor – laughed their asses off and imbibed decent alcohol. Plus it was cold as all hell out there but they had a small ceiling above the seats to shelter them from the wind.

The prisoners were displayed two-by-two. Shane and Ben were next to each other and the nearest ones to the chariot, Christa and Omid were together side by side, then came Vix and Maritza and since they were an odd number Aaron was alone and the furthest away from the chariot.

"Hey, uh…" Ben whispered, catching Shane's attention. He was trying to put more force into carrying an unconscious Chuck, but he had to balance between the two so the chariot would roll straight. "Thanks for carrying Chuck." He lauded him. "None of us were too strong to do it."

"No reason to thank me." He professed, with a warm smile. "I don't know you people, but this guy here took a chance for all of us. He's the reason we're breathing." Ben nodded. He wanted to turn around and see if Clementine was alright, but the rope around his torso was tight and that way he would unbalance the chariot. "So…you're Ben right?"

"Yeah." Ben confirmed. "Those are my friends right there." He said, pointing his finger at Omid, Christa and Aaron, who seemed unaware of their conversation.

"Ahmm. Maritza is my girl." Shane confessed, bumping his index towards Maritza. "I didn't know them, but Vix and Jasmine are sisters. Me and Maritza were passin' through when we got tangled with these guys." He hissed, putting Chuck's arm over his neck. Then he glanced at Ben. "Ever heard of a place called Wellington?"

"No, actually." Ben acknowledged. He remembered seeing in a USA map a city named Wellington, but he wasn't sure if that was what he was referring to.

"Apparently, it's a community up North, in Ohio." Shane declared.

"Ohio?!" He repeated lowly. If he had milk in his mouth, he would've spat all over the floor. "That's a long way from here."

"But that's the thing." He insisted, with a determined voice. "It's just a rumor, but if it got this far than that's gotta mean it's true! Anyway, that's where me and Maritza were headin'."

"Hey, ladies!" Samuel shouted. His henchmen immediately stopped laughing once he talked. He was probably respected due to his reputation that intimidated other people. "Less yapin' and more pushin'! Keep a steady speed!" Then he sighed in comfort and placed his feet on the tiny handrail that surrounded the seating. "Ain't it nice boys? A calm night and a calm ride. The beer is warm but I ain't nitpicking…"

He stopped speaking once a few walkers emerged from both sides of the forest. They had probably been attracted to Samuel's and his 'homies'' loud laughter. "Oh no! Shit!" Ben panicked, seeing that he was restricted and the lurkers were gonna get them.

"Calm down." Samuel ordered in a casual tone. "Stop the chariot." The prisoners were happy to comply and the vehicle came to a full stop. At least now they could rest a little; they just hoped Samuel would take care of the zombies before they munched them.

"Hey, shoot these biters!" Aaron had the courage to scream at Samuel.

"Shut…up! You're gonna attract more of 'em." Samuel snorted, as he looked at the guy with the Mohawk and a bunch of dragon and snake tattoos. "Curtis. Take 'em out."

"No prob." Curtis obeyed. He got up and took out the silencer M4 he had strapped to his back. He removed his sunglasses, he crouched down to be accurate and looked down the sights. Christa took a few steps back as a walker lunged at her and almost reached her, but its brains were sent through the air as a bullet went through its skull. The silencer made the noise nothing more than a cough and the shot was clean.

A couple lurkers appeared from the bushes; one of them was legless and had to crawl. Both of them marched towards Vix. Curtis took aim to shoot, but the prisoners got in his sights and he couldn't get a clean shot, leaving her vulnerable.

"Fuck!" Vix yelled as she gripped the zombie's shoulders to prevent it from coming toward her. Soon, the crawler would be on top of her too, and she would have double trouble then. So she pushed the zombie away, giving Curtis a clean shot. He fired three rounds at the crawler and the lurker that attacked her. He missed the first bullet, but the other two whacked them straight in the brain.

Curtis lowered the gun. "Hahaha." Samuel smirked happily as he clapped, leaving Curtis a bit nervous. "That's a warning people. Don't run or you'll end up in Curtis' sights. Continue."

The group once again started pushing the chariot that eventually began bowling in a usual rhythm. "Guys. I have a plan." Maritza mumbled, low enough so the bandits wouldn't listen. But their conspiracy was muffled by the bandits' laughs and lame jokes.

Shane sighed. "What're you gonna invent now?!" He demanded in a harsh tone. "You know there's no way out."

"What if we all untie our ropes?" She suggested, always making sure that Samuel and his pals were too busy to hear them. "We'll be quick and then we can run away."

"They would notice if the chariot stopped. And that asshole Curtis would shoot us." Christa contradicted.

"Hey, lady, I don't know you and I didn't ask for your fuckin' opinion." She blurted out sassily.

"Relax people." Vix told them in a flat voice. "We're all on the same boat, that's enough of what we need to know about each other. And regarding your plan, how would Shane get away? He wouldn't be able to get away whilst hauling a person."

"I don't think we can escape this time." Ben commented with a lowed head.

"Nobody do anything reckless." Vix advised with a concerned tone. "I've been through…stuff like this before. And we can get through this."

"Alright, alright." Maritza halted their arguing, not liking being pinned against the wall. "It was just a suggestion."

After she was done, the outlines of a city became clear in the night's fog. They saw a couple of apartment buildings, with emergency ladders covering the five stories they were built of. The road that entered the city – the one that was ahead of them – had walls assembled with wrecked cars, and its gates were made of two jeeps that could be pushed open or closed.

"Dewey, go and tell our friends we're here and open the gates." He commanded at the bald guy with the goatee. He instantly got up and jumped out of the chariot. Then he began sprinting towards the gates to provide an entrance for them. "Curtis, Victor, Jon," He spoke to the Mohawk dude, Victor and another guy. He had greyish and long hair along with some messy stubble. He wore mechanic pants, hiking boots and a blue shirt. "Prepare to get the new fish to their cells." They nodded and dived out of the vehicle to accompany the prisoners as they untied them and led them to the precinct. Samuel turned around and stared at Clementine and Jasmine. "Now I wonder what Howard is gonna do with you." He thought aloud, as he rubbed his jaw with his fingers. "Stop the chariot!"

Dewey vaulted over the two cars and talked to a couple of men. After that, the three of them moved the vehicles away so the chariot could pass. They couldn't enter the city using humans as horses; afterall inside there were rules that applied to everybody. Curtis, Jon and Victor began discarding the prisoners' ropes, but then put them back on; that time around their wrists. Victor always kept his head down; he couldn't make eye contact with the people he had screwed up.

Once Samuel got down from the antique vehicle with Jasmine and Clementine, she ran towards Ben and Jasmine jogged towards Vix. Nobody put restraints on them due to their laziness, but they weren't getting away with so many people surveilling them.

"Just leave the chariot parked outside the walls." Samuel instructed Dewey and the two other men. "Nobody's gonna steal it."

When they entered that city, encircled by Victor, Curtis and Jon, they were greeted with streets illuminated by torches. Their light was dim; probably to avoid getting the walkers' attention but it gave the painted brick buildings a whole different perspective. There were abandoned stores, such as pastry shops, clothing stores, supermarkets and restaurants. In the apartments, a few windows had some gloom coming out of them; probably due to candles. And a man emerged out of one of the edifices. He bore a brown jacket with lots of pockets, jeans and old-man shoes. His face had various wrinkles and his eyes seemed smarted through the glasses that lingered on his nose bridge.

"Here's today's catch, Howard." Samuel affirmed, as the gate was closed.

"Well, well." He verbalized in a gravelly voice, placing his hands on his hips. Then he began pacing along the line the survivors formed to inspect them. "I haven't seen this many survivors at once. Looks like they're gonna have to share cells."

"We'll make 'em fit, sir." Samuel confirmed with a nod.

Howard stopped as he passed by Clementine. She broke eye-contact and exhibited a scared expression. "Now who's this little girl?" He enquired, bowing down to her height. Clementine hid behind Ben's legs, and the teenager felt fearful seeing the leader talking to the little girl. "Don't be scared, I don't bite. The lurkers do." He laughed a bit at his own pun. Clementine looked up to Ben, but this time there was nothing he could do. The little girl exited her hiding spot and walked towards the man.

"Her, uh…her name is Clementine. Like the fruit." Jon elucidated, etching his hair.

"Hmm…okay…okay. Take everybody into their new home. I'll take Clementine." Howard instructed, as he stood up.

"What? No, I don't wanna go…" Clementine cried out, but Howard grabbed her hand, preventing her from moving.

"No! Don't take her…" Ben began ranting, but once he took a step in Howard's direction Jon got in front of him and butted the end of his M4 to Ben's chin. The teenager rapidly moved back; having a gun fire at you was already scary as it is, but having it to your head was terrifying. He could only see as Howard walked away with Clementine.

…

"There ya go." Samuel said as he locked up the last cell, the one that contained Ben. There were only five of them inside the precinct; and they had put some of the prisoners together. Ben was alone in a cell, Aaron, Chuck and Shane shared another, Vix, Maritza and Jasmine had the third one and Christa plus Omid divided another. The last one was left empty. Aaron claimed that his uncle had taught him some medical thingies so he was trying to do his best on Chuck.

"Chuck's dying over here." Aaron intervened, making Samuel stop dead on his tracks. "Can you at least give us a medkit or something?"

Samuel pulled a roll of bandages from his pocket and threw it at Aaron. He almost let it fall on the ground; it was hard picking it up behind bars. "Don't waste it all in one place." He grinned before he got out of that place.

"What'd you've known?" Ben practically jumped in the air once he heard a voice coming from the corner of his cell. He started panting before he calmed himself down. He thought that maybe someone had put a person in there that had shifted onto a walker, but then he recalled that zombies didn't talk. "Been a long time since I've seen outsiders." The man spoke. He got up and strolled forward, revealing his appearance.

He had a British accent. For some reason, his left eye contained nor pupil nor iris. A long-time scar dawdled on the top part of his skull, left secluded by a carefully wrapped bandage that covered most of his head. He sported a vest with no t-shirt - something that seemed to be the fashion in that community – along with black jeans and sturdy boots.

"Who…who are you?" Christa asked, who was in the cell opposing Ben's.

"My name's Ivan Garrett," He introduced himself, pointing his finger at his chest. The rest of the prisoners were squeezing, trying to get a look at Ivan. "I've been livin' in here fo' a while. And trust me, ya ain't gonna last long here."

"The heck do you mean by that? What do you know?" Maritza demanded.

"Howard's 'rules'," He stated, using his fingers as quotation marks. "Are a bunch of baloney. There's a bar down the road where the lads gather around. By the end of the week, his men will have raped each and every lady in here and killed every man."

"But how are you still alive then?" Ben inquired in a friendly tone. Ivan was on the same boat as them but he seemed maniac enough.

"I was a part of this place once." He declared. Some of the prisoners arched their eyebrows in anger seeing that one of those bandits was in there with them. "But that arrogant asshole, Samuel, was always bossing me around. I got tired. I wasn't some lap dog."

"And they tossed you in here 'cause you didn't follow their rules." Jasmine completed with an Irish accent.

"That's right, smart lil' girl." Ivan corroborated. "Don't expect to be fed too well. They're rationing."

"But can you help us get outta here?" Vix enquired the question everybody wanted to hear.

Ivan looked at the ground before he lifted his head to his fellow prisoners. "They stripped me of all of my shit…but now that you're here…this might be possible. I know their ruts, their habits…but I have one condition in helping you."

"What is it?" Shane asked as Aaron was finishing healing Chuck; although the odds were against him.

"You guys do what I say, no matter what." Everybody nodded and seemed to agree. "Alright then. Things are gonna happen quite quick, so be ready. Follow my lead, and we'll be outta here in a few days!"

**A/N: Now with the group arriving at Howard's community, Ben and the group have to collaborate with Ivan to escape. But just who is Ivan Garrett? And what plans does Howard have for Clementine? I guess I'll see you in the next chapter!**


	8. Punks With Guns Part 5

**The Walking Dead: Desperate Measure**

**Punks With Guns Part 5 – MEAT FOR THE SLAUGHTER**

**A/N: So I'd just like to point out a small thingy. In the previous chapter I stated that Jasmine was Irish. I was wrong; she's Scottish after all, so yeah. Sorry Rebloxic! And now enjoy the chapter.**

Howard had taken Clementine to the apartment building he lived in. It was a simple three-story apartment. The cement walls inside were grey and lacked any painting; besides the occasional graffiti sprinkling around them. The image was desecrated; posters and old newspapers littered the spiral stairwell and the elevator that stood on the middle of the building was crashed on the first floor.

"Make yourself at home." Howard told Clementine, as he gave the keys a final spin on the lock. He opened the door and stepped out of the way so she could enter. She gradually paced inside.

The house looked as bad as outside. The living room in front of her had a couple of sofas that were quite shabby and worn out. Beside them was a fireplace, whose bricks had lost their color and inside a small fire burnt. There was also a table with a pair of chairs around it. And Clementine noticed it had a frame with a picture within it; which showed Howard with a woman and other two young girls. That photo probably had been taken in better times.

"It's not much, but not everyone gets to live in a house." Howard admitted, as he closed the door behind them. Clementine wasn't impressed and just kept to herself. The only thing she could do was hope for the best. "I have some books and dolls around here…not sure if you like that."

"No, thanks." Clementine flatly replied.

"Okay, uh…c'mon. I'll show you the rest of the house." He awkwardly stated. He motioned his arm, instructing her to chase him. They walked around the corner and there laid two doors.

"Here." Howard opened the door. Clem took a peek inside and noticed that the chamber was quite small. It was probably the size of a cell; it contained nothing but a bed and a bedside table. "This is your bedroom. You can sleep here."

"I don't want to be here." She complained, staring at Howard's glasses. "I want to be with my friends."

"Oh, darling, I know you do." Howard said as he lowered his body to her height. "We're just making sure they're good people."

"But they are." She insisted further, crossing her arms.

Howard sighed and gaped at the floor. "You know what? Let's go for a stroll." Howard proposed, changing the subject. He got up and beckoned at Clementine. "That way you'll be acquainted with the city." He walked towards the door, but she stood still. "There's no need to be afraid of me. I won't hurt you."

…

The police precinct looked like any other. The lobby had rows of chairs were people could wait to be attended, and it had various cubicles, with desks, computers, pens, lamps, things that were useless nowadays. Besides that there was a small, confined room where the bandits stored all of their weaponry. They saw everything in there; M4s, Glocks, Berettas, flashbangs, helmets, armor, nightsticks, sniper rifles and all other kinds of guns and ammunition.

The cells were situated in the basement, which could be accessed through a small staircase. It was incredibly dark there, and they began to go insane with the dripping sound of water dropping, which emitted from a leaking pipe. The survivors were taking the chance and were relaxing on the bunks beds as they discussed their plan.

"So, what really is your plan, Ivan?" Christa asked, sitting on her cot. Omid had insisted that she should rest due to her baby, even though it wasn't even visible yet.

"Get out of here." He specified the obvious. "First, we need to exit these cells."

"Where do they keep the keys?" Vix canvassed, loud enough so he would hear all the way from her cell.

"Usually right here in the precinct." He elucidated. "Whenever someone comes down here they normally have the keys."

"Then we just wait for somebody to step in here." Aaron commented, with his hands drenched in blood from operating on Chuck. "We grab them and get the key."

"How is…he doing?" Omid inquired with concern.

Aaron folded his arms and glanced at the ground nervously. "Samuel did some real damage on him. Chances are slim." Christa and Omid remained silent. They already knew what was gonna happen to the homeless man.

"But what do we do afterwards?" Ben asked. He was sad about Chuck, but he had to think about something else.

"We blast into the armory, get guns and wreck this place to its foundations." Ivan said in a shout like a soldier before going to war.

"How is that a good plan?" Shane intervened, questioning his planning skills. "Do you know the chances of one of us dying?"

"It's not a good one, but what are the odds they'll let us stroll outta here?" Aaron stayed neutral in the argument.

"First of all, it's the only way out." Ivan defended himself. "Second, you're breaking the rule: do as I freakin' say."

"Look, Ivan, we just don't want to get killed." Christa soothed the ambience. "Let's just take a step back and focus on the task at hand. Getting out of these cells."

"We need a weapon." Ivan disclosed, snapping his fingers.

"They took all our things." Maritza conceded.

"But we can always improvise, dearie." He took a pause to rack his brain for ideas. "Does anyone have an object? Anything?"

There was silence, until Vix raised her hand. "I have a library card."

"That's perfect. Hand it over." Ivan ordered, as he got up from the floor. Vix reached for it then lent her arm through the bars. Ivan stretched his fingers as long as he could and then clutched it between them, careful not to let it fall. Once he retrieved it, he ran towards the stone wall and started scrubbing the card against it, to mold the form of the rectangle.

"What're you doing?" Ben curiously asked. Ivan kept rubbing the card on the wall, small dust fell upon his feet as he struck it.

"Craftin' a shiv." He asserted, not stopping his mission. "Keep an eye out for any guards coming in here."

Suddenly, they heard some footsteps coming from above. Which were followed by talking and Ben even spotted two pairs of legs going down there. "Crap. Someone's coming." Ben warned Ivan with a whisper, who immediately ceased and hid the card in his trousers.

"Fuck. I ain't done yet." He cursed, right before the two men, who were Dewey and Jon, appeared. They pulled out a key-ring and unlocked Omid's and Christa's cell. The couple backed away a little, and then Jon stormed inside and gripped Christa by her wrist.

"Hey, where the hell are you taking her?!" Omid demanded as Christa screamed, fighting against Jon's strength. Omid tried to ran toward her, but Dewey aimed a Beretta Inox right to his face.

"Lay off." He ordered. He kept pointing the gun at him and then walked backwards until the three of them had exited the cell. Dewey locked the door again and they got out of there, with Christa kicking and shouting.

"Christa! Christa!" Omid yelled through the bars, but it was useless.

"We gotta work fast." Ivan ratified, as he resumed the task of scratching the card against the wall.

…

Howard held the building's door open so she could pass. Once they were outside, he beckoned at her and they both began slowly pacing on the sidewalk. "Right now we don't have much supplies, but I was thinking of selling products on those abandoned stores. Restore the American dollar."

"Can I see my friends? Please?" Clementine impatiently inquired.

Howard sighed. "You can't, Clementine…" They were interrupted when they heard a woman hollering. They saw as Dewey and Jon were lugging Christa towards the bar across the street.

"Christa!" She exclaimed, shrouding her mouth with her fists clenched. She took a step but Howard gripped her shoulder, barring her.

"Don't." He blankly said.

"Why are you letting them do this?! They even hurt my friend Chuck!" Clementine cried out, hoping to appeal to Howard's good side.

"Clementine, let me explain." Howard elaborated, kneeling next to Clementine and gazing into her pupils. "These men…they're out of control…I'm their leader, but I can't stop them. If I don't let them do what they want, anarchy will settle in."

Clem didn't respond. She sniffled before turning around and pacing toward the apartment again.

…

"Now that's what we're talking about!" Ivan spat happily. He spun around and exhibited his shiv. The rectangular card was now spiky and triangular, like an arrowhead. He grinned once he heard some sounds coming from above. "And the timing's just perfect."

In the next few seconds, they saw Victor arrive with a medkit in his hands. "Hey, where did they take Christa?! Where!?" Omid blared, jumping around in his cell like a wild dog in his cage. However Victor ignored him.

"Don't…don't look at me like that." Victor pleaded to his fellow survivors. He marched in the direction of Aaron's cell and slipped the medkit inside. "It's the best I could get."

"Thanks Victor. This just might help his life." Aaron praised with a nod. When he turned around, Aaron gazed at Ivan and nodded negatively, mouthing words, begging him not to kill Victor. But that wasn't gonna stop him.

"Hey lad." Ivan mocked as he gripped the back of Victor's head through the bars and slammed it against them. His eyes widened in pure shock and a small bruise cut his face.

"Ouch! What the fuck?!" Victor yelped, but didn't say anything when Ivan put the shiv near his neck.

"Now ya open this door. Now!" Ivan commanded. Victor raised his left hand and used his right hand to disastrously pick up the keys from his pocket. Then he inserted them on the lock and twitched them, slinging the door open.

Ivan let go of him but then he dashed out of the cage and tacked Victor against the wall. "No, Ivan! He's no longer a threat to us!" Aaron squealed, essaying to escape the cell to stop Ivan.

"I'm…I'm sorry, I won't rat out, I promise!" Victor pleaded for his life, as he shed some tears over his cheeks.

"Ya fucking weasel." Ivan insulted, before he thrust the sharp triangle into Victor's neck. The bandit gurgled for air, as blood splattered everywhere like a hose. Ben could only stare at those horrific images, and what was scarier was the fact that Ivan seemed to be smiling as some blood splashed onto his white teeth.

"What the fuck?!" Shane hissed.

"He would've ratted on us." Ivan stated. He walked up to everybody's cells and began unlocking the doors, freeing them.

"Don't look, Jasmine." Vix indicated to her sister, covering her eyes.

Once Ivan was done, he grabbed Victor's feet and hauled him into one of the dark, empty cells. Then he threw the keys onto his belt and shut the door.

"I told you not to kill him!" Aaron howled, facing Ivan. Shane was behind them, carrying Chuck.

"I'm sorry, but I had to." Ivan simply said, shrugging his shoulders. "Let's go. I know where the armory is." He concluded before they climbed upstairs in a row, with Ivan leading the way. They were breaking out of there.


	9. Punks With Guns Part 6

**The Walking Dead: Desperate Measure**

**Punks With Guns Part 6**

**A/N: Sorry for putting an author's note right at the beginning, I'll be fast! I've hit writer's block, my friends, and I need some ideas. I don't know what I'll do after this Episode is done, so I would like for you to give me some ideas, stuff you want to see so that I can include here. That'd be appreciated. Now enjoy! **

Ivan set a foot on the first step of the stairs. The group was lined up right behind him; with Shane always holding onto Chuck. They were all on offensive stance, ready to attack anyone who would be unfortunate to discover them.

"Hurry up! I gotta…" Omid trailed off.

"Shut up. We can't get clumsy. Now keep quiet." Ivan ordered, shushing him.

He opened his palm towards the group, indicating them to stop. Everyone came to a halt, and the ex-bandit gazed upwards, to verify that there was nobody on the precinct. "Coast's clear." Ivan stated, as he began clambering the staircase. The gang slowly followed. Omid was the one right behind Ivan; he was eager to get Christa back. Just like Ben was to get Clementine. After all, they could be doing anything to them.

"All alright?" Shane asked Aaron, who had a regretful face and held his arms folded.

"I'm…I'm fine." He lied, not wanting to be bored.

"Was…Victor your family or somethin'?" Shane insisted, wishing to comfort the person he had met earlier.

"I guess we were friends…but eventually we followed our separate ways." Aaron elaborated, before he released a long sigh. "But I don't wanna talk 'bout it."

"Jas', if we get into a firefight, keep yer head down, okay?" Vix said to Jasmine.

"Yeah, yes, I know." She told her impatiently.

Once they reached the upper story, Ivan waved his arm toward the floor. They all obeyed and squatted into a crouch. Two of the walls around them had large windows. If someone strolled by, they would spot them easily. However, all of the desks and file cabinets gave them some cover if there was any passerby outside.

"Armory's right there." Ivan claimed, jabbing his finger at a protected door in the corner. He picked up a key-ring he had snatched from Victor's corpse. "See, guys? Told ya things were gon' happen real quick."

He walked in the door's direction and inserted the key in the lock. The group surveyed the outdoors for any intruders.

Ivan unlocked the entrance, and opened it. He gestured at his friends to chase him. Once they set sight on the weaponry, they were astonished. "Holy…" Vix muttered, covering her mouth. They were a bit squeezed in the tiny room, but inside assault rifles such as M4s were posited around, but that was not all. There were sniper rifles, shotguns, handguns and bags, along with other items that didn't belong to the police arsenal; such as a sword and a compound bow. Those were probably items Howard's community had found outside their city. And the most important of all, there was SWAT armor.

"Suit up, motherfuckers." Ivan instructed with a loud laugh at the end of his phrase. He gripped the nearest M4 and loaded a clip into it.

"Definitely my style." Vix murmured as she took the sword. It was some sort of katana, but seemed a bit ancient. Then she pointed her finger at the bow. "Jas', think you can handle that?"

"I think so." The girl said, as she picked up the compound bow and pulled back and released the string a few times. "A bit big, but I can do it."

"We gotta make the most outta these guns." Maritza affirmed, as she seized one of the bags. "We should take as much of this as we can."

"It might slow us down." Shane contradicted. He slowly leaned Chuck against the wall, who eventually lowered his body and slumped against it. The old man grumbled something, but didn't show any other signs of consciousness.

"She right, lad. It'd be a waste to throw away all this treasure." Ivan backed Maritza up. The woman shrugged and started filling the bag with guns and some special equipment, like flashbangs and night-sticks. "Dress up in those SWAT suits too."

Omid strapped a Kevlar around his chest, as he cocked a Glock 22. "I'm going out there."

"They'll recognize you at first sight." Ivan immediately diverged. He already had another Kevlar latching onto his chest, which was stocked with a frag grenade and a couple extra cartridges. "I know you like her, but we gotta leave without her."

"What?! We can't leave without our people!" Ben dissented. He hadn't taken anything except a Glock 22.

"You're already breakin' the first and only rule!" Ivan voiced. "We do what I say. And I say we leave now."

"It's not happening. If you want, go then." Omid faced him, not desiring to squander away any more time.

Ivan sighed as he looked at the ground. "Fifteen minutes. That's what ya got." Ivan stated, flinging his M4 on his back.

"Wait, we're staying longer?! This is gonna get us killed." Maritza spoke up, talking with a convinced voice.

"Mari, wanna really let a little girl on that dude's hands?" Shane inquired. She only shook her head and shifted her look away.

"I'm gonna go get her. There's no more time." Omid said, as he spun around to exit.

"I'll go with you." Shane came forward, but Aaron interrupted him.

"No, you help out with Chuck." Aaron cut him off. He was bearing elbow pads and a M24 sniper rifle hanging from his shoulder. "I'll go with Omid."

The Persian man nodded in appreciation, before they both waltzed out of the armory. "And I'll go get Clementine." Ben disclosed.

"Won't you need help?" Vix volunteered. Ben frowned his eyebrows; he didn't know the girl for a long time, but she was willing to help out.

"Vix, shut up." Jasmine grunted lowly at her sister.

"Uh…no…I'll manage." Ben lied. He knew that he would screw up anytime, but he didn't want to put people in the crossfire.

"Well, then, if ya go, Howard lives in the building just across the street. The last story." Ivan informed, aiming his finger at the window. The apartments on the other side of the road was quite busted up, but now Ben knew where to get Clementine. "My advice? Go toward the back and climb through the emergency ladders."

"Thanks." Ben thanked, as he sighed and prepared to what he was gonna do next.

"So we just stay put here?!" Jasmine screamed.

"Jas', calm down. And yes, we're staying here." Vix reprehended her sibling.

…

Ben walked out of the precinct, shutting the door heavily behind him. He turned his head, eyeing his surroundings. The community was a ghost town; nobody was on the streets. But he donned a puzzle expression when he detected Samuel, pacing around one of the gates built with decayed cars. His heart was boiling with pure anger. He had to make an effort to not tremble when he clenched his fists with all his might. He wanted to pick his gun up and shoot him on the spot, but he knew that he didn't have the courage.

Ben decided to put his hoodie on to avoid any attention. Further away in the street, there was a bar. It was the only place that was lit up with lights and that had noises coming from inside. The teen managed to see both Omid and Aaron creeping inside the alley that stood right next to the pub. He prayed that his friends wouldn't be caught.

He began ambled casually towards the edifice that was erected on the other side of the road. Its walls exposed their grey color; any kind of paint job was missing. He always verified that Samuel had his back towards him and never turned around. He had spotted an alleyway that contoured Howard's apartment building, so he had a good place to head on there.

Once he stepped in the dark alley, he felt safer since nobody could see him in there. But his nostrils were invaded by a strong stench. "Ugh, what the…" He whispered as he clouted his nose with his palm. The alley was empty except from a dumpster. Above it, there were ladders connected to every window. Ben spotted some figures rolled in carpets at the end of the backstreet, which had flies and mosquitos hovering above.

Ben dissipated that thought and vaulted onto the dumpster. He instantly dived onto the ladder, climbing using his feet and hands. He wasn't sure what he would find on the third floor, but he was gonna get back Clementine.

After he got to the second floor, he stopped climbing and looked back. He essayed not to stare down; after all he had bad experiences with heights. The village continued desert, but outside the walls various walkers roamed about. If they were gonna shoot their way out, they would be a problem.

The second he attained the third story window, he peaked inside. The room was vacant. The furniture seemed like it had been torn apart by wild animals. He gradually lifted the guillotine glass with a free hand. "Clem?" He muttered. Since there was no response, he entered the house.

He was careful not to make any noise and constantly glanced at the ground to see if there was something in his path. He froze when he saw one of the doors opening. He began reaching for his gun, but then acknowledged Clementine.

"Ben!" She exclaimed. Ben beckoned to command her to talk lowly, but before he could react she was hugging him.

"It's okay, it's okay…just stay quiet…don't make any…" Ben instructed as he closed his eyes to reflect.

"You surprise me, really…" Howard hollered. Ben extended his eyelids and spotted Howard in the middle of the room, hauling a Mossberg 500 shotgun in his hands. The weapons wasn't targeting him, however it was always latent in his hands.

Ben instinctively pushed Clementine harshly behind him and pulled out his Glock, pointing it at Howard. The latter imitated him and beamed the shotgun in his direction. Ben's jaw had dropped and he rumbled with no control. Sweat slid down his skin and his eyes were freaking gorked.

"Hey, hey, calm down…" Howard soothed the situation, with a suave voice. "It don't have to go down like this."

"What happened?! What did you do to her?!" Ben demanded, trying to impersonate a tough tone. He had no idea what he was doing; he was improvising. And he was unsure if the result would be positive.

"I…I did nothing." Howard admitted. "I gave her a bed and food. I took her for a stroll. That's all."

"What did you do to Christa?" Ben enquired. It probably would be useless to know, but he had to know.

Howard shook his head in denial and stayed silent. "You know, I never intended for anything of this to happen. I…I tried controlling these monsters!"

"You're their leader!" Ben remarked. He decided to become calmer; he didn't want to piss off the bandit headmaster and get blown out the window.

"They're pigs…berserkers…if I didn't let them do what they wanted…this place would fall…" Howard granted with a slightly shaky voice. "I'm sorry what happened to your friend Chuck." A silence succumbed upon them. "I have good intentions, okay?! Look, here, just…" He said. He aimed the gun toward the air and then tossed it on the floor loudly. "See? I'm pretty sure both you and your group have already escaped. Want to get outta here? Won't stop you. Wanna kill me? I won't stop you neither. So what's gonna happen next?"

"God, we…we just wanna leave…" Ben weakly beseeched, although he didn't get a response from Howard.

Ben knew what had to be done. Kill the bastard that had captured them. But would that make him better than those bandits?

**[KILL HOWARD] or [SPARE HOWARD]**


	10. Punks With Guns Finale

**The Walking Dead: Desperate Measure**

**Punks With Guns Finale**

**A/N: Ladies and gents, I hereby present you the final chapter of this arc. The voting was equal, so I had to randomly choose Howard's fate. And the result was…Spare Howard! Sorry readers who wanted to kill Howard.**

**50% of readers chose to shot Howard**

**50% of readers chose to spare Howard**

"Kick…your weapon over here." Ben ordered, nudging his hand at the shotgun displayed on the floor. Howard nodded in agreement, always with his arms raised, and gently shoved the gun towards Ben with his foot. Only now that some of the adrenaline had disappeared Ben noted that Howard was on his boxers, with only a t-shirt accompanying.

"See? I don't want to hurt you…nor Clementine…" Howard tried to reason, but Ben didn't listen to him.

"Do…do you have keys to this place or something?" Ben asked with patience, but he wanted to hurry.

"Yeah, yeah." Howard assented. He spun his head around repeatedly until he laid his eyes upon a table and grabbed a pair of keys from it. Then he threw them at the teen. "There."

Ben sloppily grabbed them, always keeping the gun aiming at Howard. "Go into the bedroom."

Howard nodded again and took a step backwards. Ben did the same thing at the same time he did it like they were doing a choreography. Clementine always followed Ben, with her arms lingering in the air.

They did the same movements until Howard stepped into his bedroom. "I-" Howard started, but then Ben pulled the door and closed it with a loud bang. He embedded the key in the lock and twisted it maniacally; he wasn't letting the man out.

"You aren't going to kill him?" Clementine inquired shyly.

"I…I know you might not like it, but…" Ben tried to explain his actions.

"It's okay. It's what…Lee would've wanted." She admitted in a sad tone. Ben was always speechless when the little girl mentioned Lee; he just didn't know what to say to her.

"Look, don't think about that…" Ben told her, placing a hand on her shoulder, when he heard the barking of a gun outside.

Ben gazed at the window, before he and Clem exchanged a concerned face. Ben dashed towards the window and peaked outside. He frowned his eyebrows and gasped when he saw the action occurring outside. He saw Omid and Aaron compressing themselves behind a dumpster; trying to defend themselves. On the other side of the gigantic trash can, he spotted Dewey and Jon firing back at them from around the corner. But on the good side, Christa was with her boyfriend.

"Oh shoot." Ben said under his breath, as he turned around and beckoned at Clementine to go after him. She nodded with a preoccupied expression as the teenager stormed through the room.

"What's happening outside?" Clementine demanded, feeling anxious about the fact that she was clueless.

"Things are bad outside…we need to stay safe, okay?" Ben instructed, glaring softly down at Clementine. "We're gonna try to get away…Ivan and the rest of our friends are coming. So let's go."

…

The duo thundered down the stairwell of the depredated building. Clementine was constantly behind her new guardian, who was wishing that the worst case scenario was that he would get shot in the shoulder. He knew that bullets were gonna get flying and that bodies would get dropping. And losses in their group was possible.

Once he reached the glass doors that built the entrance, he immediately spotted Samuel's confused face outside. Now was his chance. Ben was furious. He was grinding his teeth, his handgun being pressured by his fingers, the desire of going nuts all over Samuel…

"Clem…stay here." Ben coldly commanded. She wanted to say something, but kept quiet and walked away, hiding in the corner's shadows.

Ben almost punched the door as he opened it, catching Samuel's attention. "What the…" Samuel murmured. His perplexed eyebrows and mouth made Ben almost happy. The villain tried to reach for his rifle, but Ben had the upper hand now.

"You…you bastard!" Ben basically screamed. He elevated his arm, the Glock firmly pointed at Samuel.

"Hey, kid…we both know you ain't got the…" He spoke with an evil grin.

A bullet hurled in the direction of Samuel. The projectile pierced him right in the chest. The air was knocked out from Samuel's lungs, causing him to essay drawing breaths. His eyelids extended fully, before he sank into the concrete floor; his dazzled face frozen like a static photo. Ben strolled toward his body, before he shot another round into his skull. Samuel's brains sprayed all over the ground, painting it with a lively red.

Ben had relieved his fury. But now that he had expressed his bottled-up feelings, he realized what he had done. He grimaced in shame as he took a few steps back. He had taken a life. And even though he was regretful of what he had done, he was scared. Scared with himself. Because he hadn't felt any pity or mercy upon the man.

He had changed.

Ben turned around, just as he saw Clementine exiting the building. She had a flat face, with her mouth corners falling down. He didn't want Clem to see all those things…but in the world they lived now how could he shelter her from that stuff?

"Good kill." Ivan complimented, patting Ben on the shoulder. The teen spun around and noticed Ivan standing right behind him. Ben shook his head; with all the emotion he had forgotten the turmoil arising around him. He looked down the road and saw Omid. Christa and Aaron camouflaging behind a few useless vehicles and public benches, as more bandits fired at them from the cover the multiple buildings provided. They needed to reach the rest of the group, but they were under some heavy fire.

Shane was sitting against one of the parked cars near there, with a Beretta Inox firm in one of his gloved hands, whilst Chuck clung onto him. Vix was trying to get Jasmine crouch behind a bench for hole up and Maritza was helping them out, with the large bag stocked with guns hanging from her back.

"What…?" Ben trailed off, but Ivan gripped his shoulder and pushed them down, forcing the both of them to squat behind the same car Shane was hiding. The next second, the vehicle's windshield shattered into thousand pieces by a bullet.

"What's happening?!" Clementine screeched, as she squatted next to Ben. Ivan stood up for a few seconds and launched a burst of bullets flying into the oncoming bandits' position. They heard a scream; probably from someone that had been hit. Omid, Christa and Aaron moved towards Ben's group a little, but had to hide behind another parked car for cover. They weren't very far away from the rest of the gang, but they would get smoked if they stepped outside.

"Just keep your head down!" He ordered. Clementine went prone behind their Mazda and pressed her palms against her ears.

Shane wanted to participate in the firefight to help his friends, but was unable due to Chuck. Maritza was trying to be safe, so she just blind fired with a M14 she bore. Vix carefully shot back at the bandits, eating the dust from a cement bench across Ben's position. Jasmine was begging to get a gun; but Vix didn't comply to her demand. The biggest difficulty they had was that they were outnumbered; there were perhaps fifteen men shooting at them whilst they were just seven who were capable to fight.

Ben was paralyzed to fight. He thought that having a gun to his head was the scariest thing possible, but now he realized having one fire at him was way more frightening. His ears were ringing from the deafening sound they made. "Come on!" Ivan shouted, seeing that their enemies were too busy reloading. Omid, Aaron and Christa made a run for them and then slid to the rear of the Mazda. Christa had a sad and depressed face.

"You saved our asses!" Aaron sighed in relief. "Now we gotta get people outta here."

"Get the love birds outta here first -!" Ivan commanded, but was cut off when he got distracted and he was hit right to his stomach.

"Oh shit!" Ben yelled, butting his back against the car's door. He watched it in as if in slow-mo; Ivan's body falling on the ground from the projectile's knockback. And he had seen a comrade dying.

"I'm…I'm fine! It hit…the armor!" Ivan stuttered, jabbing his finger at his Kevlar. The bullet had made quite a dent in it; but Ivan was alive. It only took him a short moment for him to crouch back up and be ready for battle. "They're closing in! Get them bloody gates open!"

Aaron didn't waste no time and walked up to one of the cars. Ben didn't want to lay around, doing nothing, so he paced toward the second one. Simultaneously, they both began pushing them open. It was taking them some time; but they couldn't be faster.

Once they had made a small opening on the gates for them to exit, Aaron waved at Christa and Omid, who were first to get out. "Alright, someone else come…!" Aaron hollered in pain as a bullet penetrated his shoulder. He was knocked into one of the cars the gates were built off from the impact. He covered his hand, which became stained from blood, before he gazed up into the sky and stretched on the ground. "Ben! Get down!" He instructed loudly. Ben reacted and imitated him, staring up at their imminent threat. "They have a sniper up above!"

The group gasped in shock and looked towards the buildings; until they spotted a guy standing on one of the rooftops, with a sniper rifle in hand. But suddenly, they saw the dude spinning around and toppling off the roof. "He won't be a problem anymore!" Ivan stated, with some smoke coming out of the barrel of his M4. He continued launching arrays of bullets at the bandits, who had now suffered losses and were recoiling a bit. Shane took the chance and sprinted out of that place, always hauling Chuck. Maritza, seeing her boyfriend had gotten out, followed him. Ben crawled towards Clementine and gripped her hand.

"We gotta go!" He shouted. He got up and ran outside the gate; which was a great mistake. His voice creaked in a high pitch as he felt his shoulder being drilled by a bullet. But the adrenaline made the pain seem nothing but a tiny sting. The teen turned his head around and noticed Ivan, Vix and Jasmine who were right on his tail.

"RUN! FUCKIN' RUN!" Ivan roared, before they all started sprinting towards the vast forest, in hopes of losing their opponents.

…

Several minutes had passed ever since they had escaped and were lost in the woods, but they weren't keeping track of time or space. Christa was enclosed on herself and Omid was supporting her. Ben knew what had happened to her; he just hoped that it wouldn't affect her much. Maritza was now helping Shane carry Chuck; and apparently Shane had been hit in the ankle as they escaped. Aaron was sweating from the He was now limping a bit but still had lots of strength to pull Chuck up. The rest of the group was relatively fine, except for Ben. Now that the thrill and excitement had run dry, the pain on his shoulder was unbearable. The bleeding had ceased, but the ache was pulsatile and it was simply annoying.

"Let's stop here. We need the rest." Shane affirmed. Nobody responded, mainly because everybody agreed.

They halted on their feet and began sitting up against the various trees. They didn't talk, they just breathed regularly and remained passive. But Ivan was the only one who didn't sat down.

"So, uh…lads…" He spoke up, clearing his throat. "We had fun an' all, but I think this is my cue to leave."

"Wait, what? You're leaving?" Vix whooped in disturbance.

"Yeah, I guess so." Ivan stated. He regarded the ground and kicked a rock. "Y'know, rollin' with groups was never really my thing."

"You don't have to do that." Ben articulated, causing Ivan to spin his head toward him.

"Nah, I do. You take care of yourselves now." Ivan said with a nod. He walked up to Maritza's bag and unzipped it, before he removed a few clips for his M4. "Hope you don't mind."

He grabbed the ammunition, and then he stepped out into the dense forest. He looked back at them one last time, and then he vanished into the darkness.

Suddenly, they heard a sound coming from the woods. Like the one of a branch splintering in two. "Was that Ivan?" Maritza inquired, feeling a bit anxious.

"It can't be. The sound came from that way." Aaron disagreed, pointing his finger at the opposite side of where Ivan had left.

Everybody got up and raised their weaponry, aiming at the vegetation. Only Chuck and Clementine stayed down. Then, they saw a face they didn't expect to see again.

Howard.

"You got a lotta nerve to show up around here!" Maritza cried in anger, cocking her Glock 22.

"Mari, no!" Shane yelled. He dashed towards her and ripped the gun out of her hand. "This isn't how we do things."

"Look, guys…I mean no harm…Ben knows that…" Howard conceded, with his arms in the air. He walked nearer to the group.

"Guys, why are we discussin'?! Just shoot 'im!" Jasmine thundered, beaming her finger at Howard.

"Jas', calm down, everyone, calm down!" Vix hooted loudly, making everyone shut up temporarily.

"I…I need somewhere to go. I can't survive out here, not on my own." Howard conceded, targeting their surroundings with his arm. "Please, I never meant any of this to happen…"

"Oh, c'mon, don't give us that speech!" Aaron begged in impatience. "What if he has more bandits with him?!"

"The community has fallen...overrun...but I…I can help you, if you let me join you!" Howard disclosed in a shaky voice.

"This is bullshit." Maritza howled, crossing her arms.

"We can't let him be with us. Let him sleep under the same roof as us." Aaron conceded, folding his arms too.

"What if he's actually valuable?" Vix suggested. The mere pronunciation of those words made the group turn against her.

"There's no freakin' way. Not after what his men…" Christa stammer, before she buried her face in her hand and began sobbing.

There was a brief silence in the air. "What are we gonna do with you?" Shane mumbled to the air, before he turned around and glared at Howard.

**[LET HOWARD IN] or [FORCE HOWARD TO LEAVE]**

**A/N: Thus concludes this Episode, Punks With Guns. Some of you spared Howard, but are you willing to let him in? If you can, please tell me what you thought of the action scene. It was really hard to write and I'd like to improve my action scenes! Anyways, keep a keen eye out for "Episode 3: Road To Wellington". Below this author's note, you can find a sneak peek at what will happen next on Ben's story.**

_NEXT TIME ON THE WALKING DEAD…_

"I don't think we'll be able to get to Wellington. Not before we starve to death."

…

"Hmm…Wiltshire Estates…seems a good place to settle…"

…

"We should start thinking about the baby…it might not seem like it, but he'll be born before we know it."

…

"Jesus...they have kids…women…I…I can't do this…"

…

"Wait, where are our guns?!"

…

A gunshot ranged through the air. "That was a warning shot. Nobody has to die today! Put your guns down and surrender peacefully!"

…

"What we did, nothin' personal. We gotta survive. It was just a measure to ensure that we live. I'm sure you understand. We've all done something."

…

"I know we don't deserve it. But please take us with you...we need refuge..."

…

"These guys, they stole from us. Almost killed us. Murdered one of ours. And we're getting payback. Give us a helping hand, and we might get a working vehicle for all of us. And we'll be able to go to Wellington."


	11. Fear The Living Part 1

**The Walking Dead: Desperate Measure**

**Fear The Living Part 1 – THE HUNTING TRIP**

**34% of readers voted to force Howard to leave**

**66% of readers voted to let Howard into the group**

**Ben**

Even though it was just the beginning of autumn, the low temperatures were already sensible. The wind was as cold as ice and it swept leaves in its trajectory. It was probably around six o' clock, meaning that the sky was becoming grey and the thick clouds accumulated. There was a small precipitation of snow, which painted the yellowish ground and dead leaves with their crystal white color. But the trees of America's coniferous woods sometimes provided a good cover from the breeze.

One month had passed ever since the gang had escaped Howard's community. Ever since then, they just kept on heading North, no looking back. Albeit right now, they were miserable. They didn't have any food, shelter was hard to come by and they were lost.

Ben had changed a lot since that time. The nineteen year old was now starting to grow a small stubble, giving him a manlier appearance. He had replaced his highschool garment with a broad, brown coat which contained multiple pockets. His hair had grown a bit longer and it now reached the back of his neck. And the teen found himself marching through the woods, wielding a Winchester Model 70 rifle. Both he and Clem had backpacks suspended from her shoulders.

Clementine had changed a lot too. In only a month she had grown in maturity. She now wore a lilac shirt with stripes on their sleeves, along with jeans and purple shoes. But she never forgot her D hat, which never got out of her head. She bore a hatchet, which was easy to maneuver and suited her zombie-killing needs. Albeit she had her Glock 22 if things got too hairy.

"Why did you bring me with you?" Clementine asked, strolling next to the teen.

"Aaron, he, uh…told us that he used to hunt with his family." Ben elaborated. He kept turning his head around, desperate to find anything edible. Animals, berries, crows, anything. "He's been teaching everybody. And I figured you could learn."

The little girl nodded in agreement. Hunting was always a good skill to know if scavenging didn't work. "I see." Clementine muttered.

"Is, uh…everything alright? With the group and all?" Ben inquired, checking up on Clementine like he always did.

"I guess so." She said with a shrug. "But Maritza is always starting disputes. I wish she wouldn't do that."

"Yeah, me too. That's just the way she is. But I'm sure Shane can handle her." Ben said with a smirk.

"I just hope Chuck is doing good. It's been hard for him ever since…" She disclosed wisely.

"He'll probably be fine." Ben soothed her in a positive tone. "It's been a month and he's alive. He's strong and won't be taken down easily." He conceded before he decided to change the subject. "So…what do you think about Howard? Think we did the right choice letting him in?"

"He doesn't seem bad…at least not anymore…but I don't like…being around him." Clementine confessed, rubbing her arms for warmth.

"He's been useful. I don't think the group is comfortable with him being around, but…" Ben trailed off, not knowing what to say to finish his sentence.

"I think we did the right thing." She finally responded to his question. "Lee would've done the same."

"Look, Clem…do you wanna talk about…him?" Ben enquired, desiring that he wasn't playing on thin ice. "Still have nightmares?"

"All the time." She affirmed, eyes firm on the path ahead of them.

Ben gulped nervously. "He was a great man, Clementine." Ben stated. Usually he'd change the subject once she'd mention Lee, but he thought that perhaps this time it was better to talk it through. "He won't be forgotten."

"It was…my fault he died." Clementine felt her eyes watering as she pronounced those words, but she didn't cry.

Both Ben and Clem came to a halt once the teen heard those words. "Hey, don't you say that." Ben calmed her down, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Lee thought of you like a daughter of his own. It's not yours to blame for what…happened to him. And I don't want you to think that, okay?"

Clementine sniffed and nodded. Ben stood in his tall postured and smiled before they both resumed paving the ground with their footsteps. "Think we'll find anything?" Clementine asked, diverging her thoughts about Lee.

"We better do." Ben vaguely replied.

"Ben!" Clementine whispered to her guardian. Ben immediately extended his eyelids, wondering why Clem was so ecstatic. "I think I see something."

She pointed her finger ahead of them. Between a few bushes and oak trees, they spotted a tiny lake. There laid an animal, a masterpiece of Mother Nature. A beautiful deer, with fuzzy fur, a cute muzzle and pretty eyes. They just felt like petting the animal due to its beauty, but unfortunately that wasn't what they were gonna do. "Good eye, Clem." Ben praised. He raised his rifle, but then he thought that it was better to let Clem try. "Clem, think you can handle this?" He quizzed, gesturing at his rifle.

"Isn't it a bit too…heavy?" Clementine remarked, the duo always speaking in whispers to avoid revealing their presence.

"Maybe, but your pistol won't take down one of those beasts." Ben noticed. He aimed the rifle into nothingness, in the same way he always did. "Make the stock butt against your shoulder to control the recoil. Then it's like any gun: you aim and shoot. Ready?"

"No." Clementine murmured, but then Ben passed her the gun. At first, she almost dropped it. The weight made her arms sore, but then she recalled when Lee taught her to shoot. The first time it seemed so difficult, but now it was natural. She imitated Ben; stock against the shoulder. The length of the instrument made it hard to move it the way she wanted to, but she had to learn. Eventually, she targeted the creature with her sights.

"Shoot." Ben instructed, with his arms folded. Clem wasn't too comfortable with the idea of hurting a living being, but she obeyed nonetheless. However, the second the gun went off it leaped out of her palms and she fell on her ass, whilst screaming a little. The blaring noise made both of them nearly deaf. Ben covered his ears and looked down at the stream; all he could do was regard incredulously like a gapeseed as their dinner ran away and escaped into the woods. Besides the deer, he also spotted a trio of birds flying into the sunset.

"Did I hit it?" Clementine demanded, gradually getting up.

Ben sighed. "No, Clem."

"I'm…sorry…" She apologized, as Ben picked his rifle up.

"It's okay, Clem, no sweat. First time I fired a rifle it was the same thing. Plus it was a tough shot." Ben smoothed it, before he looked around him. "I don't think I'll be able to track it. It's getting dark, and that shot probably drew every animal away. Let's head back before any walkers show up."

The mighty duo turned their back away and began marching back to their safe-house. Ben patted Clem on the back. "It's fine. You'll manage next time."

…

Ben and Clem walked back toward the place they were temporarily crashing in. Their return trip was made in silent; they were only focused in finding some fruit trees perhaps so they wouldn't go back empty-handed. But apparently that was gonna happen today.

The duo stepped into a clearing and instantly recognized a small yet sturdy structure: a log cabin. It wasn't that big, but it was spacious enough for the whole group to fit inside. There was an upper story, which contained a bedroom and a washroom, the places where Chuck spent his time; mostly resting.

They walked up to the front door and knocked on it. "It's Ben." He whispered. They looked past their shoulders to verify that they weren't being followed by walkers or bandits, before the door flew open.

"Ben. Clem. Come in." Shane greeted, before stepping aside and letting them pass. Shane peaked outside a last time to certify that the zone was clear, before he shut the door once again.

Ben, the little girl and Shane found themselves in the cabin's living room. It was well equipped when it came to chairs and sofas, as well with a fireplace in the corner to help them fight off the colder days. There were some classic paintings hanging from the wooden walls. It was a really cozy house, and it made the group sad, knowing that they would have to leave soon.

"Everything gone alright?" Shane enquired. Clementine nodded and positively grunted, before she headed into another room; her bedroom that she shared with Jasmine and Vix. Ben nodded too, before he handed over his rifle back to Shane and sank into one of the couches, releasing a long sigh. "Didn't find anything, did ya?" He asked with a disappointed look, slinging the rifle on his back.

"No. Sorry. Found a deer, but couldn't get to it." Ben admitted. "The others got back yet?"

Shane sat in a chair on the opposing side to Ben, in order to face him directly. "Nope. Christa is in her room with Omid. Chuck's napping with his bottle a' booze. Maritza's doing inventory in the basement. Maybe a week's worth of food but we're still pretty well stocked on ammo. And Jasmine finally convinced Vix to let her go with her on their scouting mission. Both them, along with Aaron and Howard still haven't returned."

"I'm sorry, I…" Ben apologized, burying his face in his hand. "I saw the deer. But I gave the rifle to Clementine, y'know, so she would learn to shoot one of those. But sh…crap went bad."

"It's okay. I would've done the same." Shane consoled his friend. "Clementine needs to know that stuff. 'Cause even though she knows how to handle a handgun, sometimes you need an extra kick. Here, come help me with some walkers I saw roamin' around earlier. Somethin' to keep us occupied." Shane proposed, as he stood up.

Ben sighed and imitated the movements of Shane. He spotted a spear leaning against the wall. Well, it wasn't an actual spear. It was a pole stick with a knife taped to its end; they were improvising weapons. He grabbed it, before he followed Shane into the backyard.

**Vix**

Vix instinctively backed a few steps away when a lurker crossed in her path. She reached for her katana, that was holstered on her waist, but Jasmine walked in front of her; using one hand to raise her compound bow and the second one to wield an arrow and pull the cord.

"I got 'im!" Jasmine shouted, closing an eye to be more precise.

"Just how old is she?" Aaron mumbled to Vix. He was standing right beside her with an M4 firm in his hands.

"Hehe." Vix grinned and sheathed her sword. "Nearly twelve."

Howard stood further away from them, with his arms crossed that toted a baseball bat. It had been a month that they had been cooperating with that scumbag; but the rules established remained the same. He didn't approached nobody and he was forbidden to use firearms.

The biter in front of them was absolutely terrifying. Not only was he a reanimated corpse, he was covered in all types of plants that grew in swamps, such as hyacinths sticking out of his decayed rips and his dead skin was wrapped in moss like a Christmas gift unraveled in colored paper. But an arrow cutting through the air ripped right through its skull, killing it instantly. The undead beast came to a stop and felled on the ground. Jasmine, admiring her bounty, gladly retrieved her arrow.

"Anyways, I think there might be a town 'round here." Aaron stated. He jabbed his finger at a sign posited on the side of the road they were following. It said 'Welcome to Wiltshire Estates'.

"Can't be too far from here." Vix admitted. It didn't have any kilometer count written on it, so it had to be nearby.

"Wanna go check it out?" Aaron suggested. He looked around him, and noted that his fellow survivors seemed hesitant.

"I don't know. We've walked too far out. Shane and the others might be worried." Vix disagreed, folding he arms.

"Let's just check it out. We'll do it, and then we'll return right after. Just to see if there's anything good." Aaron insisted. Eventually, everybody assented and began marching down the road.

**A/N: As you can tell, I wanted this to focus a little more on Ben and Clem, after all they're the reason this story even exists! And I also wanted to slow down the story's pace to develop the characters. I'll be writing on a more omniscient point of view from now on. This means that when I wrote in limited, I wrote in 3****rd**** person but only focused on what Ben did. Now that might change a little. Also, the Episode's title's been changed to "Fear The Living". Guess I'll see ya in the next chapter! **


	12. Fear The Living Part 2

**The Walking Dead: Desperate Measure**

**Fear The Living Part 2 – UNCHARTED**

**Omid**

"Just take a look at it." Christa beseeched, getting frustrated at the Persian man. Both her and her boyfriend Omid sat face to face in a couple bed.

The bedroom they had claimed as theirs was a rather small room, decorated with vase filled with dirt and plants, and a pair of bedside tables with lamps, which were deemed useless in their lives where electricity didn't exist no more. It was actually great to have a roof over their head to shelter them from the walkers and the cold, and a warm bed where they could slumber in each other's arms. The only problem was that above the bed there was a window. They had to always sleep with an open eye, because they were afraid that some walker would crash against the window and bite them during the night.

Omid gulped and gazed at her girlfriend's belly. "Look, what do you want me to say?" Omid enquired with an eyebrow frown, as he crossed his arms. Christa gripped the bottom of her shirt and rolled it upwards to her breast level, revealing her stomach. It was a bit rounder like it had swallowed.

"Is it noticeable?!" Christa impatiently demanded, rolling her eyes.

"Not much…with your shirt on, you can barely see it…" Omid stated, passing his hand on her skin. "You're not fat, if that's what you wanna hear…"

"Omid!" Christa reprehended, lowering her shirt back down. "I know you like joking around, but this is serious!" She said angrily. Omid snorted in agreement.

"I'm sorry, it's just…I'm…really nervous. I'm…scared…" Omid confessed, scratching his head.

"It's okay sweetie. But we gotta start thinking about it." Christa affirmed, stamping a shy kiss on Omid's cheek. "It might not seem like it, but it won't be long before it'll be born."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Omid quickly assented. "Should we like…tell the others?"

"It's probably for the best." Christa agreed with a sigh. "Tonight at dinner?"

"Ahem. Love you." Omid concurred, as the couple shared a passionate kiss.

"Love you too, silly." She joked, as they released each other's lips.

**Aaron**

Howard marched in front of Aaron, as he, by Vix's and Jasmine's side, walked a bit further behind him to keep an eye on him. Aaron was constantly looking around, searching for something edible, but as always was unsuccessful.

"I think that's it." Vix stated. The gang dropped their gazes down the road and spotted a fence. It was built of metal and stretched out quite a while. Beyond the iron dike, they saw multiple houses symmetrically positions side by side. They all were painted in lively colors and most of them had two-stories and were quite large. Aaron turned his neck to the side and concluded that the neighborhood was probably very big, since he couldn't see the end of it. But besides the residential buildings, there were places to play golf.

"So, uh…let's take a look inside?" Aaron proposed, making it sound like a question.

"Might as well since we came 'ere." Jasmine opinionated, staring at the town.

"Fine, just…keep your eyes peeled." Vix complied.

The handful of survivors paced their way towards the fence. Aaron shifted his attention to each side of it. "Looks like there's a gap over here." He asserted, nudging his arms towards a small hole in the fence, big enough for them to squeeze through. They were lucky, because climbing through the spiky edges at the top could be difficult and end up in them being impaled.

"You first." Vix instructed, gesturing her hand towards the gap.

Howard nodded with an impatient sigh. "Yeah, okay."

He squatted and began passing through the hole; his body just about fitting. "I'll go now. Got ya covered if somethin' goes down." Aaron conceded, before he crouched and passed through the entrance.

Once on the other side, he along with Howard found themselves behind a couple of houses. He turned back and checked that there were no walkers trekking in the woods behind Vix and Jasmine.

"This place seems secure. Let's take a look at the streets." Vix disclosed, lending her hand to Jasmine as she passed toward their side.

The group walked between the two houses and onto the street. Ambling amid the residences were a few patches of walkers, but nothing they couldn't fight off. Further away, they spotted a gate with some letters written above it.

"Wiltshire Estates." Aaron read it, verifying that he had bullets in his silenced M4. "This is the place."

They stepped out onto the street. Besides the obvious lurkers, the place seemed deserted. They didn't see any cars, empty cans or any other clues of human activity around there. If they managed to clear out that place, it could be a decent place to rest in.

Some of the nearby walkers began twisting their necks, battering their jaws as they detected the human flesh they so hungrily craved for. They all had rotten skin, evil but white eyes like milk and bones and cartilages were exposed.

Vix immediately pulled out her sword and raised it in her usual pose. The nearest biter that appeared was wearing a ball cap, seemed to be bald and his leather clothes were torn apart. Once the young woman felt like she was ready, she swayed the blade across the air, until it cut through the biter's skull. It lost any kind of life dwelling in it, before his cranium was split in half and his entire body collapsed on the ground.

Aaron elevated his gun and mired an eye through the ACOG sight. He fixed his vision upon the brains of a female lurker lunging at him. The gun was set to semiautomatic in order to save ammunition. He pressed the trigger and a bullet traversed the undead's nose. He swung the gun in another direction and kept firing at the heads of the other lurkers like it was target practice.

Jasmine wanted to participate too, so she strung an arrow to her bow. She aimed it in the direction of a walker that was a bit distant. She shot toward the brain, but the gravity and the wind changed its trajectory, making it hit on its shoulder. The zombie then noticed the little girl transfixing him and started lurching toward her.

"Let's go guys. I'm not liki…" Vix spoke, but was cut off when she looked around her and noted that they were being cornered. Walkers, all of mixed genders and ages, were exiting from behind the short edifices, attracted to the sound they had produced whilst slaying the zombies.

"Shit! Guys, run…" Aaron shouted, but something caught the corner of his eye. He spun around and saw Howard sprinting towards the herd, pushing lurkers aside to run away from them. He actually thought of going after him; but it would be suicide. He would be dead in a matter of minutes.

Suddenly, they heard a high-pitched scream. Aaron and Vix turned around and saw a lurker chewing Jasmine's hand, who was kicking and struggling to get away. The little girl dropped her bow and arrow, leaving her defenseless to the beast attacking her. "JAS'!" Vix screeched, dropping her katana and running toward her sister. She kneeled beside her and clutched her hand. "It's okay, it's okay, it's just a scratch…" She rambled, as Jasmine grunted from the pain.

Aaron gawked at the scene with his heart pulsating at hundred miles per hour. Around them, the horde was slowly closing in on them. Vix too absent-minded with her sister's injury. The sword laying just a few feet away from them.

Aaron's feet began walking on their own. It was like his body knew it had to be done, but his mind disagreed. He bent over and gripped the sword, throwing the M4 around his back. "I'm sorry Vix!" Aaron yelled with all his soul.

Vix didn't even have time to react. The only thing she managed to see was her katana drawing an arc in the air as Aaron swooped it. In the end, she heard a chunk of meat falling on the ground and her blade was dripping with blood.

Jasmine's eyes closed from the sight of seeing her arm slumped on the ground and a wide, red hole in her shoulder which began bleeding uncontrollably. The pain was too much to bear so she passed out and crumpled on Vix's arms.

"H…h…wh…" Vix stuttered, not being able to say anything from the events happening too fast in front of her.

"LET'S GO!" Aaron hollered, gripping Vix's shoulder and pulling her away. The zombie managed to scratch Aaron on the back, but their claws didn't cut through the tissue of his jacket.

**Ben**

Ben and Shane strode toward the backyard; the teen being armed with a spear and Shane another spear, but the latter built out of a long sharpened branch. They saw a walker prowling nearby along with two others hidden in the forest. The duo of humans peaked at each other and Shane made a two with his fingers. Ben nodded, acknowledging his message.

Ben crept toward his left, however Shane marched in the opposite direction. Once they were positioned, the lurker rose his head, sniffing human meat. Ben was in front of it, and Shane was behind it; both of them at similar distance. The biter was indecisive on either eat Ben or Shane, but eventually he chose the youngster and lunged at him.

"C'mon, this way. Fresh meat for dinner." Ben told the zombie. He took a few steps back and waved his fingers towards his body. Shane dashed toward the walker from behind and stabbed it right through the skull. The boundary of the spear popped through the zombie's face. Shane placed a foot in the corpse's arse and then pulled his weapon, tossing the cadaver on the ground.

Shane crouched and investigated the undead man's pockets with a sad face. "Anyone you know?" Ben asked, although he knew it was highly unlikely.

"Kinda. He…reminds me of a friend of mine." Shane admitted, as he kept rummaging. "His name was Luke. I was rollin' with him until this, uh, one time, biters forced us up on an alley. His leg was in a really bad state. I…left him."

Ben silently gasped. He never thought that someone like Shane would abandon an injured friend but sometimes your own survival came first. "I'm, uh, sorry for your loss."

"Don't be." Shane coldly roared. "I was selfish…stupid…" He chuckled a bit, lightening the situation. "I remember this one time me and him went to a bar. It had a pool table. We said, fuck it, and played a round. We had never played it before but I was a natural. Luke however, just sucked. In the end, I continued playing just to piss him off." He finished his story just as he removed a 9mm clip from the zombie's trousers.

"HELP!" They twitched their necks at the speed of light when they heard a desperate war cry coming from the dirt road leading to their house.

"What the…" Shane muttered, as he stood up and retrieved his spear. "Is that Vix?!"

"I…I don't know!" Ben spluttered, gazing toward the static horizon.

"Fuck! C'mon, Ben!" Shane uttered, as he began running across the ground like a gazelle. Ben just followed his order and sprinted in the same way as him.

Once they walked around the corner, they spotted Maritza, Omid and Christa who darted through the main entrance. "What the heck's goin' on?!" Maritza demanded.

"We heard screaming!" Christa stated with urge.

"Did something…" Omid inquired, approaching Shane.

"No time t' talk! Just come with me!" Shane sputtered without stopping. They silently assented before they dashed behind the duo.

They stormed the dirt road until they came across Vix and Aaron. Vix was hauling Jasmine in her arms, whose one upper limb was missing. It was covered with a piece of clothing and a belt strapped around it to prevent further bleeding. Beside her, was Aaron, helping Vix carry her sister. Vix had her eyes tainted red; drenching in tears. "Jasmine needs help." Vix said with a tremble voice. Shane, Ben, Maritza, Christa and Omid were only able to stare in horror.


	13. Fear The Living Part 3

**The Walking Dead: Desperate Measure**

**Fear The Living Part 3 – THE SCYTHE AND THE SHOVEL**

**Ben**

The small handful of people stared non-stop at the inanimate child, especially Ben who was having difficulty processing those images. It was hard to see a little girl in that shape.

"Get…get her inside, now." Shane instructed between stutters. Maritza paced toward the door, still somewhat shaken up, and opened it. Vix kept weeping and slowly dragging herself, but Aaron helped her stand on her feet. Jasmine was lights out, with her stump involved in a piece of clothing; which was specked with blood.

The group walked inside the log cabin. "Over there." Aaron pointed his finger at a nearby table, but Vix didn't seem to understand. Aaron helped her move and then aided her as she lowered her arms and set a pale Jasmine on the table.

"Jesus! What happened out there?!" Omid demanded, feeling so nervous he could rip his hair off.

The next moment, Chuck came drumming down the stairs, using a cane to walk. Clementine's head popped out of her bedroom door, and she had a bewildered expression stamped in her face. "What's goin' on!?" Chuck inquired with a hoarse voice, halting his footing after climbing down half the stairs. His clothes were in worst state ever since a month ago and his long beard now fitted him better; since he was a hobo.

"Ben!" Clementine exclaimed. She ran up to him and Ben placed an arm over her, like a chicken positing its wing over its child.

"Would someone care to explain what the hell's…!" Maritza rambled on in a loud tone. Vix was with her palms on the table, crying over her sister's body, as Aaron was examining her stub.

"She got bit! I need to focus! Now would you all calm the fuck down?!" Aaron screamed at the top of his lungs, silencing everyone. He panted a little before looking at Jasmine's wound again and talking in a smoother voice. "Maritza, help me out. Put pressure here."

Maritza nodded and strolled toward Aaron, and then she pressured the injury with all her might. "A…Aaron…ho…how is s…she?" Vix asked, snot and tears leaking from her face.

"I…I don't know." Aaron said in a flat voice. He gazed at the wound and then noticed something weird. He spotted some blood around the wound, but it was dry and blackish. He swept his finger through the matter and scrubbed his fingers to investigate it.

"What the hell is that?" Shane inquired with his arms folded, seeing the strange substance Aaron was toying around with.

Aaron let out a sad sigh and his eyebrows shook erratically. "It's walker blood." Aaron announced. Everyone extended their eyelids and furrowed their eyebrows. Vix just sobbed harder. Christa pinched her nose bridge and let out some brief tears, before she retreated into her bedroom. Omid did the same as she. "Jasmine's infected. I did all I could."

**Aaron**

Ever since Aaron had told the group the shocking announcement, it was weighing pretty badly on them. Jasmine had been taken to Vix's room, and Vix was now locked inside, immersed in complete darkness. The rest of the gang had dispersed, off to do their activities. Whether it was mourning or checking their Glock's clip. They didn't want to waste medical supplies on Jasmine, but they were forced to use up a bandage when Vix wouldn't stop insisting.

Aaron knocked on Vix's door. He hated being a doctor. He had to look at disgusting wounds all day, see people die and then feel guilty about it afterwards. It was a part of the job, but for some reason it was rare the occasion in which he could save a life. And he was starting to wonder if perhaps it was his fault.

Obviously, there was no reply. Aaron opened the door a little, which creaked, wishing that he wasn't barging in. "Vix?" He whispered. The window had been shut and was cloaked with the curtains. He glared at the ground, careful not to step on anything that could be laying there. "It's Aaron, uh…I'm here to…"

"Get. Out. Of here Aaron." Vix grunted in between teeth with anger, making Aaron feel guiltier. Aaron ceased his walk and stood here in the obscurity, only managing to get a glimpse at Vix's outline.

"Look, I…I'm sorry!" Aaron apologized, not knowing what else to say.

"You're sorry?!" She repeated in a crazy tone, but she was always sitting in her chair, in front of the bed in which laid Jasmine.

"I…I tried to help!" Aaron essayed to convince her. He had a lump up his throat and his answers came in short phrases.

"You cut off her arm, you maimed her! Now look at her!" Vix shouted. She glanced past her shoulder toward Aaron and beamed her hand at Jasmine.

"She was gonna die anyway, Vix!" Aaron affirmed in a harsher tone. "I did what I could to help her!"

"Just get the fuck out of here! Please!" Vix pleaded, burying her face on her hands and wailed into her palms.

Aaron obeyed and waltzed out of the room, closing the door tight as he left. He butted his back against the wall and slid until he was sitting on his ass. He clenched his fists violently; all he wanted to do was burst into tears. It was hard to keep those feeling of anger and sadness bottled up; especially when they added up. His friends and family, Felix, Richard, David, Thomas, Gwen, Brooke, Carter, Chester and Ashley, all of them dead. And now Jasmine. But he kept the tears from coming anyway.

**Ben**

Ben sat with Clementine on her bed, in her room. The walls were painted blue and were adorned by drawings of the child that previously inhabited in there. Scribbles of houses and men with arms sticking out of their legs were scrawled in bright colors. The creepiest thing in the apocalypse was that every time they moved into a new place, it was like they could sense the ghosts of the previous owners haunting them.

"Jasmine's gonna die, isn't she?" Clementine inquired. Ben opened his mouth to tell her that everything was gonna be okay, but no. It was time that he stopped with the comforting lies. This time, there was no denying it.

"Look, Clem…" Ben conveyed, setting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I don't like it any more than you do, but I'm gonna come clean with you. Jasmine's infected. With walker blood."

"Yeah. I know." Clementine sadly assented, lowing her head.

"Well…she isn't gonna make it." Ben confessed with sorrow. "You know what we need to do. It's tough and it never gets easier…but it exists."

"Yeah. Everyone's gonna die eventually…" Clementine sadly murmured, catching Ben's attention.

"What did you just say?" Ben asked in shock.

"The dead always win at the end." Clementine declared with a hurried voice. "Jasmine is gonna die…and so are we."

"Clementine, don't you say that! We're all gonna be fine." Ben calmly reprehended. But then he noticed that he was back to telling the little girl lies. However, how could he tell Clemmy that everybody parishes one way or the other? "And don't think that, okay?"

The little girl didn't reply or nod. He quivered his head, before he landed a kiss on her forehead, something he had never done. Clementine seemed surprised at first but kept silent, like she accepted it.

Ben stood up and walked out of the room. "Everything okay?" Shane asked, passing by Ben. He already had a shovel in his hand.

The teen sighed. "Parenting sucks." He claimed. "Have you seen Chuck? I seen spotted him in a while."

"I think he's in the basement." Shane informed. Ben nodded in thanking before he brushed past all of the couches towards a door that was located on the other side of the house.

He opened the door and peeked inside. The basement was submerged in darkness, except for some straws of light creating dots on the black void. And he was mortified when he saw Chuck slumped on the ground.

"Charles?! Oh my God…" Ben called out nervously, as he thundered down the stairs. He sprinted towards the homeless man and he just stood ranked in front of his body. Was he dead, what was wrong?!

Then he saw an empty glass bottle versed on the ground, depleted of its content. Ben sighed in relief and budged Chuck's body with his hand. "Charles? Chuck? Wake up."

Chuck, who had a strain of liquor on the corner of his mouth combined with drool, was awakened and began coughing on his enclosed fist. "Wh, what…" Chuck mumbled, waving his arms around. His first instinct was to pick up the bottle next to him, albeit it only had a few drops of alcohol remaining inside.

"Jesus, you've been drinking?!" Ben scolded, bending to Chuck's height.

"Mu-maybe." Chuck muttered with difficulty.

"How the hell do you keep finding alcohol?!" Ben rambled as he seized the bottle and threw it on the wall, shattering it in a million pieces.

"No! Ma booze!" Chuck screamed like a baby deprived of his milk bottle. But then he began crying; something the group had never seen.

"Holy moly, what's wrong, Chuck? Why're you acting like this?" Ben inquired, as he raised Chuck's body onto a more comfortable position.

"I…I told that man, Lee…" Chuck recalled between sobs. "I told 'im…seein' another little girl die…it did me in, Benjamin."

"Geez, look, let's get you on a couch or something." Ben passed his arm through Chuck's neck and lifting him. He was heavy but the teen could handle it.

"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. "

"Don't you start rambling, Chuck." Ben adverted.

Once they entered the living room, Ben dragged the man towards the couch and tossed his body onto it. It only took a few seconds for Chuck to start snoring.

Then, a gunshot echoed through the house. Christa and Omid exited their room with a perplexed face; and so did the rest of the group gathered. "What the fuck was that?!" Christa demanded with worry.

"It came from upstai…oh FUCK!" Shane yelled as loud as he could as he began thundering up the stairs as fast as Usain Bolt.

The rest of the group followed and once they climbed the stairwell they spotted Aaron standing by the door, with a depressed face and his arms folded. "Aaron, what's wrong?!" Ben inquired. Aaron didn't respond, so they all tried to look inside; albeit the hallway wasn't very big.

Vix was standing up, with her gun firm in her hand. In the darkness, they could distinguish blood and brain fragments spilled on the bed. "She turned." Vix coldly stated.


	14. Fear The Living Part 4

**The Walking Dead: Desperate Measure**

**Fear The Living Part 4 – DEPART**

**Ben**

Vix slowly lowered her arm, as tears silently burst out of her eyes. The group didn't say anything; they were sad about Jasmine's death but at least Vix hadn't done anything stupid. Shane lightly pushed aside the group members and strutted inside the room. "It's okay, Vix, it's okay." Shane soothed her as he carefully strode in her direction. When he deemed it was safe, he grabbed the gun gently and unfitted it out of her fingers, making sure that the gun was aiming in a safe direction so it wouldn't go off in someone's face.

Vix sniffed and wiped a few tears from her eyes. "Where's the shovel?" She asked between hiccups.

Shane raised his eyebrows in both sadness and surprise that she was posing that question. "It's downstairs." He elaborated, placing his hands on his hips.

Vix spun around and strolled toward the bed. She snuck her fingers under her back and raised her gradually, making the springs creak. Everyone gazed away, to avoid looking at the hole pierced in her skull. Vix turned around and waltzed out of the room, striking Shane's shoulder with her own. The group made space for her pass and they all kept their heads down.

**Vix**

Vix bowed a little and delicately set her sister on the ground. She was currently on the cabin's backyard. Jasmine's clothes were drenched in gore from the blood loss and it was creepy to see that rufescent crater in her forehead. He grabbed the shovel with difficulty, as her body was weakened by the grief.

She began shoveling the ground, removing spits of dirt from the ground. She made each strike to the floor strong, relieving her anger through the violence she was applying to the grass. First that shit that happened at Bruce's community, and now this damned world had taken away the single thing she treasured.

The sound of the door's hinges chirring reached her ears. She turned her wet face and spotted Ben, standing there with a shovel in his hand. Vix stayed silent and shook her head, as she kept on digging a hole.

**Ben**

Ben watched as Vix turned away and didn't say anything. He sauntered toward the grave she was drilling.

He stepped by her side and excavated the shovel into the ground, using his foot to thrust it, and then tossed the earth on a separate pile. He did his best to not look at Jasmine, but sometimes her corpse entered the corner of his eye.

"Hi." He mumbled, hoping to make some conversation. However, Vix just continued burrowing with fury, not avoiding a few more tears sinking into her skin. "Talking about it…helps."

"There's nothing to talk about." She coldly said, not focusing away.

"It does." Ben insisted, but again, no response. "Wanna know something? I know your pain, how it hurts."

"You don't know shit." She hissed, as she halted and rubbed her arm on her visage.

"I rarely tell this to anybody, but…when all of this started, I wasn't with my family." Ben claimed, as he stopped and gazed up at the sky. It was ironic, it was a sad day but the sun shone like a beacon and there wasn't a single cloud in the blue skies. Vix seemed to have her attention gripped and took a glance at Ben, before she resumed the task at hand. "I was with my highschool band. Our teacher, Mr. Parker and my colleague, Travis. They're both dead." He told with a dragged voice. "But I never got to see my sister, or my family. It was hard, but…eventually I got costumed to the fact that…there's no way she's alive."

"Sorry." Vix blurted out.

"Yeah. Thanks." Ben assented, trying to forget his awful memories. "Y'know, if you want, we can like…do a funeral."

"No. Nothing left to say." Vix said flatly.

After some efforts and sweat, a hole was clear on the ground. Vix gripped Jasmine's ankles and Ben her wrists. "Gently." Vix commanded. "Yeah, okay, sorry." Ben spat as they began lowering the body onto the grave. The two people stood there, regarding the dead corpse. After a few seconds of silence, they grasped their tools once again. And the noise of the metal penetrating the dirt and the latter being dumped on the cadaver came again.

The next second, they heard the door opening again. They twitched their vision toward the person and saw Aaron. He was erected by the entrance, with a M4 slinging from his shoulder. Vix shifted her attention away from him. Ben shook his head in negation, and received a nod from Aaron. Since he knew he wasn't welcome, he spun around and entered the cabin once again.

…

The group was gathered around the dinner table. Everybody was there, except for Vix. Night time had arrived, and the world was involved in an ebony light. And nowadays with the lack of public LED lights, outside it was too dark to see anything.

A single candle lit the survivors' faces. They ate with little appetite, only feasting some bread and others not eating at all. Shane cracked the ice. "We're leaving." He said with a lowered head. "We're short on supplies. Our only chance's to keep heading north. I was scouting a few days back. I think there might be a town a few miles from here."

"I'm not disagreeing, but should we…really leave this place?" Ben inquired with a hand gesture.

"We don't have a choice." Shane insisted in a soothed tone.

"Think Vix's ready to move?" Omid asked with his arms folded.

Silence for a few seconds. "We'll just have to ask for her opinion." Shane affirmed.

"This town you mentioned…you sure it's safe?" Maritza quizzed. "Towns aren't really the safest places on Earth."

"I didn't get too close." Shane declared, intertwining his fingers. "I only saw a few buildings and that's it. But there might be supplies there."

"Geez…I was just starting to like this place…" Omid said in a sigh, looking down.

"By the way, what happened to Howard?" Shane questioned, as the same question struck his head like lightning.

"He ran into the horde. He's probably dead." Aaron stated in a low voice.

"At least he's one less problem…" Christa sputtered.

No other words were pronounced. Chuck, Omid and Christa got up and headed towards their respective rooms. The rest stood still, finishing their meal or too tired to get up.

"Pack your bags people. We're hittin' the road." Shane declared.

**A/N: I know this chapter might've been a bit shorter than usual, but I was blocked on this one for some reason, and just needed to get outta the way. Thanks a lot for sticking around up to this point, and I'll see y'all in the next chapter.**


	15. Fear The Living Part 5

**The Walking Dead: Desperate Measure**

**Fear The Living Part 5**

**Howard**

His arms and legs were fatigued beyond oblivion and he didn't find a lot of strength within him to push forward. But the simple idea of getting eaten alive was enough to give him force to continue.

In the background, Howard could hear Aaron and Vix yelling as mad people, along with the sound of bodies dropping. In his case, he was sprinting into the horde, pushing zombies aside anyways he could and sometimes knock them over with his baseball bat. He smirked. He was almost out. He was reaching the end of the herd and the zombies were becoming more dispersed.

Most of the walkers were focused on the others, and their stupidity barely noticed Howard. Once Howard was free, his first instinct was to run as fast as he could towards the fence.

As he entered a tight alley between two houses, he glanced behind him. A few lurkers had stuck around to try to catch him, but Howard made sure they weren't getting a meal today. When he was beside the fence, he let go of his bat in a hurry. He hopped and gripped the top of the fence, essaying as hard as he could to climb over. Behind him, the zombies were lunging louder as they approached Howard.

* * *

><p><em>A DAY LATER…<em>

**Ben**

At about three o'clock, the entire group was marching down a concrete road. Surrounding them was the ever endless forest, and everything seemed static. Only sometimes a batch of birds would fly off a tree or a walker who was had the bad luck of stepping in their way. Chuck still had to stride with a tall log and Vix was distant as always.

Ben looked down at Clementine, who was walking closely to him. "Everything alright, Clem?" Ben asked with concern.

"Yeah…" She vaguely said, without much of a reaction.

"Y'know, we really haven't had much time to talk." Ben admitted, scratching his chin that was starting to develop some facial hair. "Now's a good time."

"I'm just sad about…Jasmine. She was nice." Clementine confessed, impeding a stray tear.

"Nothing else like that's gonna happen." Ben told her, patting her on the back. "We're gonna find someplace safe. And don't ponder on it, okay?"

"Hmhm."

"Good." Ben grinned, raising his head.

**Shane**

"Guys!" Shane called out to the group, being the one leading. He recomposed himself, the bag of guns in his back weighing him down. "We gotta train wreck!"

The group halted and looked at what laid in front of them. Stretching out into the road were about a dozen cars, all of them old and full of rust and others once expensive cars. But the common point among them was that they were all clashed against each other, stopping them from proceeding.

"Dammit." Omid sputtered, scrubbing his head as he stood next to his girlfriend.

"So…how do we do now?" Ben asked, motioning his arm.

"It's simple. We just go around." Maritza stated, turning toward the group.

"Are you guys sure we should just pass an opportunity like this?" Aaron voiced his opinion, adjusting his M4 hung in his shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Christa inquired.

"Yeah, this is just a pile a' scrap." Maritza backed her up.

"I don't know about y'all, but a few of these actually look in work conditions." Aaron ratified in a confident tone, gaping at the vehicles. Everyone spun around, peaking at all of the cars. "We might be able to get a pick-up workin' or something. If not, we might find a few medkits or ammo inside 'em, I dunno."

"We shouldn't waste any more time." Maritza contradicted, furrowing her eyebrows. "We should get to that city as soon as possible."

"Now, now, Mari, let's not be hasty." Shane curbed her ranting, lifting a hand in the space between him and Maritza. "Aaron's right. We should check these 'scraps' first. If we get a car workin', we'll only get there faster. Aaron, stay here and protect the group. Me and Mari are gonna check this out."

"You sure you don't want me to go?" Aaron quizzed, taking a step forward.

"You got the bigger gun." Shane smartly observed. "I think it'd be best for you to hold down the fort."

"'Right. Be careful." Aaron cautioned, before he faced the woods with his gun ready.

"Yeah. Careful fo' crawlies!" Chuck advised, as he sat his exhausted and weakly old body on a boulder, taking a deep breath.

"Shout out if somethin' goes down!" Ben hollered. "We'll come running."

**Aaron**

The walker Aaron had fixed in his sights was pretty gruesome. It barely had any meat on it, showcasing mostly bone and a few leaves left enclosed in its rib cage. Its skull had a few feeble hairs waving around like the ones of a deranged scientist. The only human thing left was name that somehow was buried in its orbit, saying 'Margaret'.

Pressing the trigger, a bullet whizzed right through its skull. Not surprisingly, not a lot of blood came out of the hole as it collapsed. That creature was probably already sucked of any liquids inside it.

"Aaron."

Aaron spun around at the mention of her name. His brows automatically wrinkled when he spotted Vix standing there, sheathing her katana on her back holster.

"Uh…yeah Vix?" He gulped, wondering why Vix was talking to him for the first time in a few days.

"I wanna speak to you 'bout Jas'." She asserted, with a dead serious face and tone.

"Look, I…" Aaron rambled, staring at his feet. "I already said I'm sorry…I don't know…"

"No, stop." Vix ordered, and Aaron obeyed without second thought. "I'm the one who should apologize."

"What?" Aaron blurted out, more than surprised with her attitude. "It was my fault, Vix. Don't…I was the one who had the idea to head into that town. I was the one who sliced…"

"Aaron, just don't." She instructed, folding her arms and sighing. "It was my fault. She was my responsibility. And I let her down. Let down my folks wherever they are."

Aaron was more than blown away and didn't find the words to say. "No heart-feelings." Vix said, lending her hand.

"No…heart-feelings." Aaron repeated as they shared an awkward hand shake. "Thanks. This, uh…means a lot."

**Shane**

"Jesus." Shane muttered. He and Maritza were standing just a few centimeters from the jumbled cars. "Where do we start?"

"Check the cars all the way over there." Maritza spoke, jabbing her finger at the end of the massive wreck. "It'll be easier to pull out a working vehicle from there."

"Yeah, you're right." Shane mumbled. He leaped onto the hood of a car that was burnt and missing its wheels, and then began strolling on top of the vehicles towards the end of the disaster. "You'll check these ones?"

"Yeah, go on." Maritza reassured.

**Maritza**

Maritza opened the door of the smoked car, which balanced in its hinges with difficulty. He doubted she was gonna find anything, but with the supplies getting shorted by the day she wasn't nitpicking and she would settle with anything. The car seemed to have passed through havoc, since there were a bunch of sharp branches impaling the car in different locations.

She passed her hand through the driver seat to brush away the singed tissue. Then she leaped onto the seat, looking around her. She flipped the two sun visors but the only thing she found was a stack of receipts in one and in the other the picture of a young child.

She bent over to check under her, but suddenly a hand gripped her wrist, coming from the second-row seating.

"Fuck!" She yelled in despair.

She gazed through the gap between the two seats and saw a walker laying on the back seats. It wore glasses and summer clothes: a wacky t-shirt and shorts. It was trying to pull Maritza to its teeth, but luckily the woman had a tight grasp on the steering wheel. She just wasn't sure if she could hold any longer.

The zombie had an immense strength, and out of Maritza's mouth low grunts were released. But when the walker leaned forward to bite her, a pointy stick that was stuck on the passenger seat pricked the zombie right through its forehead, killing it instantly. The walker went limp, and Maritza shook off its inanimate hand.

She panted and reclined on her seat. Glancing at the group, she noted that no one had perceived her little incident. _Thank God, _she thought. She didn't want everyone to start a freaking drama.

Her head drooped to the side, and she smiled when she saw a pack of cigarettes placed on the dash. "Hell yeah…" She whispered, as he picked up the little object.

She snapped the lid and verified three smokes and a lighter inside. Putting one of them in her mouth and then sparkling it with her lighter, she inhaled deeply and then leaked a cloud of smoke into the air.

It felt so good. She spent weeks without tobacco and that was really getting to her. But now that her withdrawal was taken care of, her stress and problems had vanished like magic. After a few good puffs, she put out the cigarette half-way through to ration them, and continued to rummage for supplies.

**A/N: And thus concludes another chapter. Looks like this won't be the last we've seen of Howard…I wanted to take some time to thank you guys so much, 84 REVIEWS?! Wow, now that's a number I never thought I would achieve. It's thanks to you guys, so I really appreciate it!**


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